TSS King Orry [4] was the lead ship of the King Orry class of passenger ferries and packet ship

Packet ship

A "packet ship" was originally a vessel employed to carry post office mail packets to and from British embassies, colonies and outposts. In sea transport, a packet service is a regular, scheduled service, carrying freight and passengers...

s built for the Isle of Man Steam Packet

Isle of Man Steam Packet

The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company Limited is the oldest continuously operating passenger shipping company in the world, celebrating its 180th anniversary in 2010....

 to replace war-time losses.

The King Orry class of six ships were the culimnation of war-time experience and pre-war service by Isle of Man Steam Packet Company. Essentially, the class were a modified design of the 1936 Twins, which included TSS Fenella [2] and TSS Tynwald [4]. The King Orry [4] was launched from the slipway at Cammell Laird in Birkenhead

Birkenhead

Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...

, Liverpool in November 1945. The name King Orry is the Manx Gaelic name for the Godred Crovan

Godred Crovan

Godred Crovan was a Norse-Gael ruler of Dublin, and King of Mann and the Isles in the second half of the 11th century. Godred's epithet Crovan may mean "white hand" . In Manx folklore he is known as King Orry.-Ancestry and early life:...

 a Norse-Gael ruler of Dublin

Kings of Dublin

The Vikings invaded the territory around Dublin in the 9th century, establishing the Norse Kingdom of Dublin, the earliest and longest lasting Norse kingdom in all of Europe outside of Scandinavia, excepting the so-called Kingdom of Mann and the Isles. This corresponded to most of present-day...

, and King of Mann and the Isles in the second half of the 11th century. The previous ship with this name was King Orry [3], one of three company losses during Operation Dynamo

Operation Dynamo

The Dunkirk evacuation, commonly known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, code-named Operation Dynamo by the British, was the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, between 26 May and the early hours of 3 June 1940, because the British, French and Belgian troops were...

 the evacuation of British and French troops from the port of Dunkirk during May 1940.

History

King Orry [4] was constructed by Cammell Laird & Co Ltd at a cost of £402,095. The ship was launched on 22 November 1945, and acquired by Isle of Man Steam Packet Company on 16 April 1946. King Orry completed its maiden voyage on 18 April 1946, and remained in service until 31 August 1975, operating primarily between Douglas, Isle of Man

Douglas, Isle of Man

right|thumb|250px|Douglas Promenade, which runs nearly the entire length of beachfront in Douglasright|thumb|250px|Sea terminal in DouglasDouglas is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,218 people . It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, and a sweeping...

 and Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

, England.

Taken to Glasson Dock near Lancaster, broke moorings & ran aground during a storm in early March 1976, refloated later that month.
King Orry was broken up for scrap in 1979.