HARLECH CASTLE was built in 1894 by
Barclay, Curle & Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 3264grt,
a length of 350ft, a beam of 45ft 6in and a service speed of
14 knots. She was completed as an extra steamer in June 1894
and in February 1896 carried the troops who had taken part in
the failed May 1895 Jameson raid back from Durban to Southampton.
Under Capt Leander Starr the raid was launched from Mafeking
upon Johannesburg in an attempt to bring the Transvaal into
British South Africa. Starr was imprisoned for 15 months after
President Kruger handed him over to the authorities. On 20th
October 1899, as HMT 2 she carried the first troops to Cape
Town as one of three Castle ships in a convoy of five. She was
sold in 1904 to Earl Fitzwilliam , a coal magnate, for an expedition
to the Cocos Island, 200 miles off the Pacific coast of Costa
Rica, and renamed Veronique. The object was to search for Peruvian
Inca treasure buried there by the swindling pirates Bennett
Graham and William Thompson but after the venture failed Earl
Fitzwilliam sold her to a German magnate who took the mail boat
home. In 1915 she was captured by the Peruvian Navy and became
their supply ship Iquitos and painted brown-grey. Sold to Cia
Peruana de Vapores in 1923 for their Callao to Panama service
she was renamed Amazonas and finally broken up in 19434.
TANTALLON
CASTLE (2) was built in 1894 by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering
Co. at Govan with a tonnage of 5636grt, a length of 440ft 4in,
a beam of 50ft 6in and a service speed of 17knots. Built for
the mail service she was the company's first vessel to be fitted
with a quadruple expansion engine and considered to be a single
funnelled version of the Dunottar Castle. In May 1895 she carried
a record 384 passengers on her homeward voyage and in the June
cruised with Mr & Mrs W.E Gladstone on board to the opening
of the Hamburg - Copenhagen - Kiel Canal. Although named by
Emporer Wilhelm II as the Kaiser Wilhelm Kanal it is always
referred to as the Kiel Canal. She transferred to the Union-Castle
in March 1900 following the merger. On 7th May 1901 whilst on
a passage from Southampton to Cape Town carrying 120 passengers
which included the Governor of Natal, she ran aground on Robben
Island in thick fog. When she encountered the fog at 03.00hrs
the captain put the engines on dead slow and continued to proceed
until at 15.20hrs when she grounded on rocks at the northwest
end of the island. Still in thick fog her siren and maroons
were heard by the Robben Island ferry Magnet who eventually
found her and at 17.00hrs took the passengers and mail off.
The next day the Union-Castle vessels Avondale Castle, Braemar
Castle and the Raglan Castle together with South African Railway
tugs attempted to pull her clear but failed. The Tantallon Castle
swung broadside to the rocks, was holed fore and aft and took
on a list. As the weather worsened during the following week
the ship eventually broke up in the breaking sea. Following
her loss the mail service had to be terminated at Cape Town
and the Pembroke Castle taken off the Intermediate service to
shuttle the mail around the coast. (Photo: World Ship Society
Library)
ARUNDEL CASTLE (3) was built in 1894
by Fairfield Ship Building & Engineering Co. at Govan with
a tonnage of 4588grt, a length of 415ft, a beam of 45ft 9in
and a service speed of 15 knots. She was completed for the Castle
Steam Packets Co. Ltd with D. Currie & Co. as managers.
She transferred to the merged Union-Castle company in March
1900 and in 1905 was sold to East Asiatic Co. (Det Ostasiatiske
Kompagni) of Copenhagen for their Far East service and renamed
Birma. In December 1907 she was transferred to their subsidiary
company Russian East Asiatic Co. and renamed Mitau or Mitawa
(alternative spelling). She was laid up in August 1914 and reverted
to East Asiatic and Birma in 1918. In 1921 she was sold to the
Polish Navigation Co. of Danzig, renamed Jozef Pilsudski and
after a refurbishment was placed on their New York to Danzig
service. In November of the same year she was arrested at Kiel
for non-payment of the refurbishment cost and ,as the payment
was not made, was sold and renamed Wilbo. She was eventually
broken up in Italy during 1924.
TINTAGEL
CASTLE (1) was built in 1896 by Fairfield Ship Building &
Engineering Co. at Govan with a tonnage of 5531grt, a length
of 425ft 2in, a beam of 50ft and a service speed of 15 knots.
Sister of the Avondale Castle she was launched for the Intermediate
service. In September 1912, together with her sister, she was
sold to Cie. de Navigation Sud-Atlantique for their Bordeaux
to South America service and renamed Liger. In 1921 she was
replaced by the Mosella and broken up at Genoa the in 1923.
(Photo: from UCPSC 01/31)
AVONDALE
CASTLE was built in 1897 by Fairfield Ship Building & Engineering
Co. at Govan with a tonnage of 5531grt, a length of 425ft 2in,
a beam of 50ft and a service speed of 15 knots Sister of the
Tintagel Castle she was launched for the Intermediate service.
In November 1899 she was arrested by the contraband sloop HMS
Partridge off Inyack Point near Lourenço Marques because
it was thought that she was carrying gold to a neutral port
from where it could be acquired by the Boers. Fortunately the
gold had been cleared and she was released at Durban. On 8th
May 1901 she unsuccessfully attempted to tow the Tantallon Castle
off Robben Island after she had run aground. In September 1912,
together with her sister, she was sold to Cie. de Navigation
Sud-Atlantique and renamed Garonna. She was deployed on the
Bordeaux - South America service which, by then, was operating
weekly. sailings. In 1922 she was replaced by the Meduana and
broken up at Bordeaux in the following year. (Photo: UCPSC 02/74)
DUNVEGAN
CASTLE (1) was built in 1896 by Fairfield Ship Building &
Engineering Co. at Govan with a tonnage of 5958grt, a length
of 450ft 6in, a beam of 50ft 11in and a service speed of 15
knots. She entered service as a mail steamship and in 1900 had
her yards removed. In 1901, together with the Scot, she carried
members of both Houses of Parliament to King Edward VII's Spithead
Review. In October 1902 she hit the breakwater at Cape Town
doing some £10,000 of damage. She was laid up at Netley
in Southampton Water after being replaced by the Kenilworth
Castle in May 1904 and remained there for almost seven years.
In 1913 she replaced the Guelph on the East African service
but was laid up again in the following year when the Llandovery
Castle entered service. She was used to land the first wave
of the British Expeditionary Force at Le Havre on 10th August
1914 accompanied by the Norman. She returned to the mail run
briefly in 1915 when larger ships were requisitioned for war
service but in the October was deployed as a hospital ship with
400 beds. On 20th April 1916 she reverted back to her owner
but under government control and in 1917 carried General Jan
Smuts, the South African Prime Minister, to England where he
joined the War Cabinet. In 1918 she undertook two voyages across
the Atlantic from Liverpool to New York for Cunard and in 1919
was chartered to the French Government for two voyages from
Copenhagen to Cherbourg to repatriate French prisoners of war
from Northern Germany. She was laid up at Netley in 1921 and
sold in 1923 to Schwitzer & Oppler for breaking up in Germany.
(Photo: from UCPSC 11/96)
DUNOLLY CASTLE was built in 1897 by
Barclay, Curle & Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 4167grt,
a length of 368ft, a beam of 46ft 4in and a service speed of
14 knots. Completed as an Intermediate steamer in January 1897
she proved to be too small and susceptible to heavy rolling
in a cross sea. A story was put about that of all the ships
anchored in Table Bay the Dunolly Castle was the only one visibly
seen to roll in the gentle swell. She was transferred to Union-Castle
in 1900 and was sold to the East Asiatic Co, with the Arundel
Castle, in 1905 and renamed Juliette. In April 1907 she was
transferred to the Russian American Line for their Libau - Rotterdam
- New York service and renamed Arconia but after only four summer
voyages she was replaced by the Estonia, formerly Bibby's Yorkshire,
and sold. Purchased by Continental Rhederi A. G. of Hamburg
she became the Hittfeld but only until 1910 when she was re-sold
to D. M. Los of Pireaus and renamed Eleni. In 1913 she was sold
to the National Steam Navigation Co. of Greece, was renamed
Ionnina and made her first sailing Pireaus - Kalmata - Patras
- New York on 30th October. On 17th December 1917 she was torpedoed
by U-156 between the Azores and Madeira.
DUNLUCE CASTLE(1)/RAGLAN CASTLE was
built in 1897 by Barclay, Curle & Co. at Glasgow with a
tonnage of 4324grt, a length of 383ft 6in, a beam of 46ft 4in
and a service speed of 14 knots. Sister of the Dunolly Castle
she was advertised as the Dunluce Castle and finally delivered
as the Raglan Castle. Transferred to the Union-Castle Line following
the merger she was sold to the Russian Government in 1905 for
use as a store ship in their war against the Japanese. She was
renamed Hanna and prepared for deployment in the Far East fleet.
However, before she could sail from the Baltic the Russian fleet
was annihilated at Tsushima and so the redundant vessel was
sold to the East Asiatic Co. of Copenhagen for their West Indies
service and renamed St. Domingo. In 1907 she was taken back
by Barclay, Curle as part payment for the Russia and reverted
to Raglan Castle. She was chartered to Northwest Transport Co.
(later Uranium Steamship Co.) during the summer of 1909 and
deployed on the Rotterdam - Halifax - New York service. During
1910 she was purchased by Donaldson Bros. and renamed Pythia
for their Glasgow - St. Johns, New Brunswick, Baltimore - Newport
News service, sailing on 18th February. In the following year
she was sold to T. Dannevig of Sandfjord for use as a whale
oil refinery and store ship in the Antarctic, retaining her
name. By 1923 she was owned by Hvalangerakties Odd, Thorsten
Bryde and Thor Dahl. In April 1929 she capsized at Sandfjord
but was salvaged and sold to B. Gundersen of Sandfjord for use
as a whaling ship and renamed Ready. After five further years
of service she was broken up at Rosyth in the Firth of Forth
during 1934.
BRAEMAR
CASTLE (1) was built in 1898 by Barclay, Curle & Co. at
Glasgow with a tonnage of 6266grt, a length of 450ft, a beam
of 52ft 2in and a service speed of 15 knots. She was the last
4-masted ship in the fleet and built for the Intermediate service
and continued on that route after the merger in March 1900.
On 8th May 1901 she was one of the trio of ships that tried
to re-float the Tantallon Castle when she went ashore on Robben
Island and in 1902 went ashore herself on the Isle of Wight
without serious damage. In 1909 she was used for peacetime trooping
mainly to the Far East and was given a white hull with a blue
band and a yellow funnel. On 6th August she was used to ferry
the British Expeditionary Force across the English Channel to
France. During Mar and April 1915 she carried the Plymouth Brigade
of the Royal Marines to Gallipoli and landed them at Siddil-Bahr
and on 7th October of the same year was commissioned as a hospital
ship with 421 beds. She acted as a base hospital ship during
the Dardanelles Campaign when feeder ships would bring the wounded
and, when full, she would sail for Italy. On 23rd November 1916
she struck a mine in the Mykonos Channel when six patients were
killed. She was initially beached and then towed to Malta where
she laid for three months before she was towed to La Spezia
and repaired. After the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed on
the 3rd March 1918 the war between Russia and Germany came to
an end but the civil war between the Bolsheviks and the Menshaviks
broke out and British troops were sent to Murmansk to prevent
arms dumps falling into German hands. The Braemar Castle was
stationed there as a base hospital ship and because of the cold
her decks were boarded up and she became known as Noah's Ark.
On several occasions she was pinched by the ice which was broken
up by Russian refugees. In February 1919, after almost a year,
she sailed in convoy to Leith carrying sick patients before
undertaking one commercial voyage for the company in 1920. She
returned to Archangel in 1921 to evacuate wounded, sick and
non-Russian medical staff and was the last ship to leave when
the port was finally evacuated. In 1922 she carried a British
peace keeping force to Turkey during the Turk - Greek conflict
and after the Treaty of Lausanne was signed, when Cyprus was
confirmed as a British possession, she trooped men there. In
September 1924 she made her last voyage as a troopship before
being sold for £17,500 and broken up in Italy. (Photo:
from UCPSC 11/96)
CARISBROOK
CASTLE was built in 1898 by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering
Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 7627grt, a length of 485ft,
a beam of 56ft and a service speed of 16 knots. Completed as
a mailship she was the last single screw major ship to be built
for the company and was actually outdated by the time she was
ready for service. She was also the first in the fleet to have
the first class accommodation located amidships instead of in
the poop, conforming with the North Atlantic practice of many
years. She was never a popular ship and rolled badly. In 1899
she completed the mail run to from Cape Town to Southampton
in 14 days 17 hrs and 3 mins, a time only bettered by the Scot.
Transferred to the merged company in March 1900 she made the
last Cape sailing from London when Southampton became the terminus.
In 1910 she was replaced by the Balmoral Castle and became a
reserve steamer after only twelve years service but in 1912
was deployed on the East African service via the Suez Canal.
On 3rd September 1914 she was commissioned as a hospital ship
with 439 beds and acted as a cross channel ferry but proved
to be too large in comparison to the number of wounded she could
carry so was transferred to the Army for trooping with a capacity
for 1500 troops. In January 1915 she carried troops to Alexandria
and took a Canadian Field Hospital to Salonika and thereafter
ferried troops between Salonica, Mudros and Alexandria. In 1916
she carried troops between Malta and Salonica and in 1918 was
used as a cross channel troop ferry once again. During 1919
she served as an Ambulance Transport in the Mediterranean before
returning to Union-Castle ownership on 26th August where she
was deployed on the mail run until the larger ships were demobilised
and refitted. She later transferred to the Round Africa service
before being laid up at Netley in 1921 when the Windsor Castle
replaced her and was broken up in the following year. (Photo:
from UCPSC 04/65)
KOODOO (1) was built in 1875 by Barclay,
Curle & Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 52grt, a length
of 65ft 10in and a beam of 16ft. She was completed for use as
a tender at Durban where passengers had to be ferried over the
bar from ships at anchor in the roadstead. In 1886 she was sold
to the Union Boating Co., retaining her name.
FINLAND was built in 1886 by McMillan
& Son at Dumbarton with a tonnage of 1363grt, a length of
230ft 6in, a beam of 33ft and a service speed of 10 knots. She
was built as the Cape Merchant for the Cape & Natal Merchant's
Line but was purchased by Donald Currie who gave her a '...land'
name as she was deployed on coastal trading. Castle names were
only given to ships trading out of the United Kingdom. On 26th
April 1887, during a voyage from Cape Town to Mauritius she
ran aground 16 miles east of Kowie River, without loss of life,
and was a total loss.
KINFAUNS
CASTLE (2) was built in 1899 by Fairfield Shipbuilding &
Engineering Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 9664grt, a length
of 533ft, a beam of 59ft 2in and a service speed of 17 knots.
She was the first company ship with twin screws and her No.3
hold derricks were worked off the foremast and not the derrick
posts. Built for the mail run she entered service in September
1899 after a shake down cruise with guests. In April 1902 she
gently went aground on the Isle of Wight but was undamaged.
On 4th August 1914 she was requisitioned by the Admiralty and
converted into an Armed Merchant Cruiser for service in South
African waters when, en route to her station, she took part
in the hunt for the German Kaiser Wilhelm de Grosse, a Norddeutscher
Lloyd vessel which was eventually sunk on 26th August. She next
captured the German sailing ship Werner Vinnen which was carrying
coal off the Canaries and dispatched her to Freetown with a
prize crew. In the September she captured the German barque
Heinz off Port Nolloth, South West Africa before covering the
landings of South African troops into German South West Africa
and then acting as guard ship at Walvis Bay. In December 1914
the German light cruiser SMS Koenigsberg sailed from Dar-es-Salaam
in German East Africa for the Gulf of Aden where she sank the
new Ellerman ship City of Winchester. HMS Astreae then went
in to destroy the wireless station and the locals unwisely sank
the floating dock across the harbour mouth. Deprived of her
base the Koenigsberg took refuge in the Rufiji Delta at Satale
up the Simba-Uranga tributary from where she raided nearby Zanzibar
and sank HMS Pegasus on 20th September. The Kinfauns Castle
was part of the force detailed to hunt the German cruiser. In
January 1915 she took part in the capture of the German Mafia
and Niororo Islands, south of Dar-es-Salaam before proceeding
to Durban where she loaded a scouting aircraft. Based on Niororo
Island ,with the Kinfauns Castle as base ship, this aircraft
was flown by a civilian with a temporary commission, H.D. Cutler,
to look for the German light cruiser. She was eventually found
but was out of range of gunfire so the Kinfauns Castle withdrew.
The Royal Mail ship Trent towed two monitors, Mersey and Severn,
from England and the destruction of the Koenigsberg commenced
on 11th July. After a second attack the Koenigsberg ceased fire
at 13.50hrs and was scuttled at 14.00hrs. The Kinfauns Castle
recovered the British wounded and resumed her patrol. In 1916
she reverted to trooping with the first class accommodation
being reserved for government officials and in 1919 she returned
to commercial employment on the mail service. She carried the
Duke of Connaught to South Africa as Governor General in 1919
and on 9th September 1922 rescued the crew of the Hammonia (Hamburg-Amerika
Line) when she sank 75 miles east of Vigo after striking an
unidentified object. After trooping to the Far East she was
laid up at Netley following substitution by the Arundel Castle.
In October 1925 she was brought back into service with the Roman
to carry the mail when the regular steamers were strike bound
and on 17th November departed from Cape Town for the last time.
She was scrapped in Holland in September 1927 after being sold
for £32,000. (Photo: from UCPSC 19/85)
Eyewitness
- The Sinking of the "Hammonia"
(Photographs and Captions by Alan McPhee)
Our lifeboat returning with a
load of survivors with yours truly in the bow with arms
outstretched to catch life line from deck of the "Soldier
Prince".
"Hammonia" taken just
before she sank -
note the lifeboats. The ship in the background is the
"Kinfauns Castle". These photographs were taken
from the deck of the "Soldier Prince" with a
pocket Kodak and enlarged in Alexandria.
Survivors from "Hammonia"
clambering aboard "Soldier Prince". This lifeboat
was stove in a few minutes later and had to be hoisted
aboard. Note "Kinfauns Castle" in background.
KILDONAN
CASTLE was built in 1899 by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering
Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 9652grt, a length of 533ft,
a beam of 59ft 2in and a service speed of 17 knots. Sister of
the Kinfauns Castle she was the last mail ship to be completed
for Castle Line before the merger but commenced her career as
H. M. Transport 44 for use during the Boer War. On her maiden
voyage she carried 3000 troops to Cape Town and in December
1900 was used as a prisoner of war ship at Simonstown. During
1901 she returned to Fairfield's for completion before undertaking
her first commercial mail sailing on 7th December. On 31st October
1914 she undertook an emergency sailing to Lisbon where she
loaded 10,000 rifles and 1,000,000 rounds of .303 ammunition
which she then took to the Cape to replenish South African troops
who were quelling secessionist strikes in the Rand and Johannesburg.
On 6th October 1915 she was commissioned as a hospital ship
with 603 beds but in the following March she was de-commissioned
and converted into an Armed Merchant Cruiser and on 21st August
1916 joined the 10th Cruiser Squadron which was based at Glasgow.
In 1917, on 17th January, she embarked the British Military
Mission headed by Viscount Milner at Oban and took them to Murmansk
where the Mission failed to prevent the Russians from negotiating
with the Germans for peace. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, when
Russia signed a separate Peace Treaty with the Central Powers,
was signed on 2nd March 1917 the day the Mission reached Scapa
Flow. On her return she undertook convoy duties in the North
Atlantic. In December 1918 she was stood down as an AMC and
transferred to the work of repatriating troops and in 1919 carried
troops to Archangel to quell internal fighting and was the last
ship to leave when the Allies withdrew. She then made a single
trooping voyage to Shanghai before sailing to Vladivostock where,
in March 1920, she embarked 1800 Yugoslavian refugees and took
them to Gravosa in the Adriatic. At the end of that year she
was refurbished and returned to the mail run where she remained
until replaced by the Carnarvon Castle in 1936 and put in reserve.
When the building of the Dunbar Castle was delayed in January
1930 she was deployed on the Intermediate run until the May
when she was laid up at Netley pending disposal. She was sold
in May 1931 for £11,250 and broken up at Stavanger in
Norway. (Photo: from UCPSC 11/45)
PENGUIN was built in 1899 by Cox & Co.
at Falmouth with a tonnage of 123grt, a length of 90ft 2in,
a beam of 19ft 4in and a service speed of 9 knots. She was built
as a tender and tug for service at East London. Transferring
to the merged Union-Castle Line in 1900 she remained until 1924
when she was sold to the African Wharfage Co. of Mombasa and
renamed Nyati. She was broken up locally during 1928.
TANTALLON
CASTLE (2) was built in 1894 by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering
Co. at Govan with a tonnage of 5636grt, a length of 440ft 4in,
a beam of 50ft 6in and a service speed of 17knots. Built for
the mail service she was the company's first vessel to be fitted
with a quadruple expansion engine and considered to be a single
funnelled version of the Dunottar Castle. In May 1895 she carried
a record 384 passengers on her homeward voyage and in the June
cruised with Mr & Mrs W.E Gladstone on board to the opening
of the Hamburg - Copenhagen - Kiel Canal. Although named by
Emporer Wilhelm II as the Kaiser Wilhelm Kanal it is always
referred to as the Kiel Canal. She transferred to the Union-Castle
in March 1900 following the merger. On 7th May 1901 whilst on
a passage from Southampton to Cape Town carrying 120 passengers
which included the Governor of Natal, she ran aground on Robben
Island in thick fog. When she encountered the fog at 03.00hrs
the captain put the engines on dead slow and continued to proceed
until at 15.20hrs when she grounded on rocks at the northwest
end of the island. Still in thick fog her siren and maroons
were heard by the Robben Island ferry Magnet who eventually
found her and at 17.00hrs took the passengers and mail off.
The next day the Union-Castle vessels Avondale Castle, Braemar
Castle and the Raglan Castle together with South African Railway
tugs attempted to pull her clear but failed. The Tantallon Castle
swung broadside to the rocks, was holed fore and aft and took
on a list. As the weather worsened during the following week
the ship eventually broke up in the breaking sea. Following
her loss the mail service had to be terminated at Cape Town
and the Pembroke Castle taken off the Intermediate service to
shuttle the mail around the coast. (Photo: World Ship Society
Library) 
TINTAGEL
CASTLE (1) was built in 1896 by Fairfield Ship Building &
Engineering Co. at Govan with a tonnage of 5531grt, a length
of 425ft 2in, a beam of 50ft and a service speed of 15 knots.
Sister of the Avondale Castle she was launched for the Intermediate
service. In September 1912, together with her sister, she was
sold to Cie. de Navigation Sud-Atlantique for their Bordeaux
to South America service and renamed Liger. In 1921 she was
replaced by the Mosella and broken up at Genoa the in 1923.
(Photo: from UCPSC 01/31) 
AVONDALE
CASTLE was built in 1897 by Fairfield Ship Building & Engineering
Co. at Govan with a tonnage of 5531grt, a length of 425ft 2in,
a beam of 50ft and a service speed of 15 knots Sister of the
Tintagel Castle she was launched for the Intermediate service.
In November 1899 she was arrested by the contraband sloop HMS
Partridge off Inyack Point near Lourenço Marques because
it was thought that she was carrying gold to a neutral port
from where it could be acquired by the Boers. Fortunately the
gold had been cleared and she was released at Durban. On 8th
May 1901 she unsuccessfully attempted to tow the Tantallon Castle
off Robben Island after she had run aground. In September 1912,
together with her sister, she was sold to Cie. de Navigation
Sud-Atlantique and renamed Garonna. She was deployed on the
Bordeaux - South America service which, by then, was operating
weekly. sailings. In 1922 she was replaced by the Meduana and
broken up at Bordeaux in the following year. (Photo: UCPSC 02/74)
DUNVEGAN
CASTLE (1) was built in 1896 by Fairfield Ship Building &
Engineering Co. at Govan with a tonnage of 5958grt, a length
of 450ft 6in, a beam of 50ft 11in and a service speed of 15
knots. She entered service as a mail steamship and in 1900 had
her yards removed. In 1901, together with the Scot, she carried
members of both Houses of Parliament to King Edward VII's Spithead
Review. In October 1902 she hit the breakwater at Cape Town
doing some £10,000 of damage. She was laid up at Netley
in Southampton Water after being replaced by the Kenilworth
Castle in May 1904 and remained there for almost seven years.
In 1913 she replaced the Guelph on the East African service
but was laid up again in the following year when the Llandovery
Castle entered service. She was used to land the first wave
of the British Expeditionary Force at Le Havre on 10th August
1914 accompanied by the Norman. She returned to the mail run
briefly in 1915 when larger ships were requisitioned for war
service but in the October was deployed as a hospital ship with
400 beds. On 20th April 1916 she reverted back to her owner
but under government control and in 1917 carried General Jan
Smuts, the South African Prime Minister, to England where he
joined the War Cabinet. In 1918 she undertook two voyages across
the Atlantic from Liverpool to New York for Cunard and in 1919
was chartered to the French Government for two voyages from
Copenhagen to Cherbourg to repatriate French prisoners of war
from Northern Germany. She was laid up at Netley in 1921 and
sold in 1923 to Schwitzer & Oppler for breaking up in Germany.
(Photo: from UCPSC 11/96) 
BRAEMAR
CASTLE (1) was built in 1898 by Barclay, Curle & Co. at
Glasgow with a tonnage of 6266grt, a length of 450ft, a beam
of 52ft 2in and a service speed of 15 knots. She was the last
4-masted ship in the fleet and built for the Intermediate service
and continued on that route after the merger in March 1900.
On 8th May 1901 she was one of the trio of ships that tried
to re-float the Tantallon Castle when she went ashore on Robben
Island and in 1902 went ashore herself on the Isle of Wight
without serious damage. In 1909 she was used for peacetime trooping
mainly to the Far East and was given a white hull with a blue
band and a yellow funnel. On 6th August she was used to ferry
the British Expeditionary Force across the English Channel to
France. During Mar and April 1915 she carried the Plymouth Brigade
of the Royal Marines to Gallipoli and landed them at Siddil-Bahr
and on 7th October of the same year was commissioned as a hospital
ship with 421 beds. She acted as a base hospital ship during
the Dardanelles Campaign when feeder ships would bring the wounded
and, when full, she would sail for Italy. On 23rd November 1916
she struck a mine in the Mykonos Channel when six patients were
killed. She was initially beached and then towed to Malta where
she laid for three months before she was towed to La Spezia
and repaired. After the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed on
the 3rd March 1918 the war between Russia and Germany came to
an end but the civil war between the Bolsheviks and the Menshaviks
broke out and British troops were sent to Murmansk to prevent
arms dumps falling into German hands. The Braemar Castle was
stationed there as a base hospital ship and because of the cold
her decks were boarded up and she became known as Noah's Ark.
On several occasions she was pinched by the ice which was broken
up by Russian refugees. In February 1919, after almost a year,
she sailed in convoy to Leith carrying sick patients before
undertaking one commercial voyage for the company in 1920. She
returned to Archangel in 1921 to evacuate wounded, sick and
non-Russian medical staff and was the last ship to leave when
the port was finally evacuated. In 1922 she carried a British
peace keeping force to Turkey during the Turk - Greek conflict
and after the Treaty of Lausanne was signed, when Cyprus was
confirmed as a British possession, she trooped men there. In
September 1924 she made her last voyage as a troopship before
being sold for £17,500 and broken up in Italy. (Photo:
from UCPSC 11/96) 
CARISBROOK
CASTLE was built in 1898 by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering
Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 7627grt, a length of 485ft,
a beam of 56ft and a service speed of 16 knots. Completed as
a mailship she was the last single screw major ship to be built
for the company and was actually outdated by the time she was
ready for service. She was also the first in the fleet to have
the first class accommodation located amidships instead of in
the poop, conforming with the North Atlantic practice of many
years. She was never a popular ship and rolled badly. In 1899
she completed the mail run to from Cape Town to Southampton
in 14 days 17 hrs and 3 mins, a time only bettered by the Scot.
Transferred to the merged company in March 1900 she made the
last Cape sailing from London when Southampton became the terminus.
In 1910 she was replaced by the Balmoral Castle and became a
reserve steamer after only twelve years service but in 1912
was deployed on the East African service via the Suez Canal.
On 3rd September 1914 she was commissioned as a hospital ship
with 439 beds and acted as a cross channel ferry but proved
to be too large in comparison to the number of wounded she could
carry so was transferred to the Army for trooping with a capacity
for 1500 troops. In January 1915 she carried troops to Alexandria
and took a Canadian Field Hospital to Salonika and thereafter
ferried troops between Salonica, Mudros and Alexandria. In 1916
she carried troops between Malta and Salonica and in 1918 was
used as a cross channel troop ferry once again. During 1919
she served as an Ambulance Transport in the Mediterranean before
returning to Union-Castle ownership on 26th August where she
was deployed on the mail run until the larger ships were demobilised
and refitted. She later transferred to the Round Africa service
before being laid up at Netley in 1921 when the Windsor Castle
replaced her and was broken up in the following year. (Photo:
from UCPSC 04/65) 
KINFAUNS
CASTLE (2) was built in 1899 by Fairfield Shipbuilding &
Engineering Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 9664grt, a length
of 533ft, a beam of 59ft 2in and a service speed of 17 knots.
She was the first company ship with twin screws and her No.3
hold derricks were worked off the foremast and not the derrick
posts. Built for the mail run she entered service in September
1899 after a shake down cruise with guests. In April 1902 she
gently went aground on the Isle of Wight but was undamaged.
On 4th August 1914 she was requisitioned by the Admiralty and
converted into an Armed Merchant Cruiser for service in South
African waters when, en route to her station, she took part
in the hunt for the German Kaiser Wilhelm de Grosse, a Norddeutscher
Lloyd vessel which was eventually sunk on 26th August. She next
captured the German sailing ship Werner Vinnen which was carrying
coal off the Canaries and dispatched her to Freetown with a
prize crew. In the September she captured the German barque
Heinz off Port Nolloth, South West Africa before covering the
landings of South African troops into German South West Africa
and then acting as guard ship at Walvis Bay. In December 1914
the German light cruiser SMS Koenigsberg sailed from Dar-es-Salaam
in German East Africa for the Gulf of Aden where she sank the
new Ellerman ship City of Winchester. HMS Astreae then went
in to destroy the wireless station and the locals unwisely sank
the floating dock across the harbour mouth. Deprived of her
base the Koenigsberg took refuge in the Rufiji Delta at Satale
up the Simba-Uranga tributary from where she raided nearby Zanzibar
and sank HMS Pegasus on 20th September. The Kinfauns Castle
was part of the force detailed to hunt the German cruiser. In
January 1915 she took part in the capture of the German Mafia
and Niororo Islands, south of Dar-es-Salaam before proceeding
to Durban where she loaded a scouting aircraft. Based on Niororo
Island ,with the Kinfauns Castle as base ship, this aircraft
was flown by a civilian with a temporary commission, H.D. Cutler,
to look for the German light cruiser. She was eventually found
but was out of range of gunfire so the Kinfauns Castle withdrew.
The Royal Mail ship Trent towed two monitors, Mersey and Severn,
from England and the destruction of the Koenigsberg commenced
on 11th July. After a second attack the Koenigsberg ceased fire
at 13.50hrs and was scuttled at 14.00hrs. The Kinfauns Castle
recovered the British wounded and resumed her patrol. In 1916
she reverted to trooping with the first class accommodation
being reserved for government officials and in 1919 she returned
to commercial employment on the mail service. She carried the
Duke of Connaught to South Africa as Governor General in 1919
and on 9th September 1922 rescued the crew of the Hammonia (Hamburg-Amerika
Line) when she sank 75 miles east of Vigo after striking an
unidentified object. After trooping to the Far East she was
laid up at Netley following substitution by the Arundel Castle.
In October 1925 she was brought back into service with the Roman
to carry the mail when the regular steamers were strike bound
and on 17th November departed from Cape Town for the last time.
She was scrapped in Holland in September 1927 after being sold
for £32,000. (Photo: from UCPSC 19/85) 
KILDONAN
CASTLE was built in 1899 by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering
Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 9652grt, a length of 533ft,
a beam of 59ft 2in and a service speed of 17 knots. Sister of
the Kinfauns Castle she was the last mail ship to be completed
for Castle Line before the merger but commenced her career as
H. M. Transport 44 for use during the Boer War. On her maiden
voyage she carried 3000 troops to Cape Town and in December
1900 was used as a prisoner of war ship at Simonstown. During
1901 she returned to Fairfield's for completion before undertaking
her first commercial mail sailing on 7th December. On 31st October
1914 she undertook an emergency sailing to Lisbon where she
loaded 10,000 rifles and 1,000,000 rounds of .303 ammunition
which she then took to the Cape to replenish South African troops
who were quelling secessionist strikes in the Rand and Johannesburg.
On 6th October 1915 she was commissioned as a hospital ship
with 603 beds but in the following March she was de-commissioned
and converted into an Armed Merchant Cruiser and on 21st August
1916 joined the 10th Cruiser Squadron which was based at Glasgow.
In 1917, on 17th January, she embarked the British Military
Mission headed by Viscount Milner at Oban and took them to Murmansk
where the Mission failed to prevent the Russians from negotiating
with the Germans for peace. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, when
Russia signed a separate Peace Treaty with the Central Powers,
was signed on 2nd March 1917 the day the Mission reached Scapa
Flow. On her return she undertook convoy duties in the North
Atlantic. In December 1918 she was stood down as an AMC and
transferred to the work of repatriating troops and in 1919 carried
troops to Archangel to quell internal fighting and was the last
ship to leave when the Allies withdrew. She then made a single
trooping voyage to Shanghai before sailing to Vladivostock where,
in March 1920, she embarked 1800 Yugoslavian refugees and took
them to Gravosa in the Adriatic. At the end of that year she
was refurbished and returned to the mail run where she remained
until replaced by the Carnarvon Castle in 1936 and put in reserve.
When the building of the Dunbar Castle was delayed in January
1930 she was deployed on the Intermediate run until the May
when she was laid up at Netley pending disposal. She was sold
in May 1931 for £11,250 and broken up at Stavanger in
Norway. (Photo: from UCPSC 11/45) 
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