SS Orvieto Brass Ashtray

The 12,130 ton 'Orvieto' was built in the shipyards of Workman Clark & Company at Belfast for the Orient Steam Navigation Company and launched on 6 July 1909 at a cost of £335,713. She took her name from a town in Northern Italy. As a Royal Mail Ship and passenger vessel, RMS 'Orvieto' commenced runs from England to Brisbane on 26 November 1909.
At the start of the First World War, the ship was requisitioned by the Australian Government and fitted out as a troop transport in Sydney in 1914, with a capacity for 209 officers, 1,425 men and 22 horses. Designated as the flagship of the First Convoy and carrying Major General Bridges together with the newly appointed official correspondent Charles Bean among others, His Majesty's Australian Transport (HMAT) 'Orvieto' left Sydney in mid-October, bearing Convoy number A3. The entire convoy was assembled at Albany, WA, and sailed on 1 November 1914, the 'Orvieto' leading the convoy of 36 transports to Egypt. At Colombo, the ship took on board prisoners from the German raider SMS Emden, including the commander, Captain Karl von Muller, who had been captured after the ship's defeat by HMAS Sydney off Cocos Island.
After the troops and prisoners were disembarked at Egypt, the 'Orvieto' then sailed to London in preparation for another England-Australia voyage. Instead, it was requisitioned by the Admiralty and fitted out as an armed merchant cruiser with eight 6-inch guns. As HMS 'Orvieto', the ship operated as a minelayer and was involved in the interception and capture of over 30 foreign merchantmen. The ship was returned to the Orient Steam Navigation Company at the end of 1918 and returned to England-Brisbane mail run for the next eleven years. Her last voyage was in 1930 after which she was sold for scrap and broken up in 1931.
The ashtray is believed to be a souvenir obtained by a member of the AIF on his journey to Egypt onboard the Orvieto. The ashtray was in the possession of the Subiaco Rifle Club for many years and is assumed to have been left there by a member.