KENILWORTH
CASTLE (2) was built in 1904 by Harland & Wolff
at Belfast with a tonnage of 12275grt, a length of 570ft
2in, a beam of 64ft 8in and a service speed of 17.5
knots. Sister of the Armadale Castle she entered service
in May 1904 and in August
1914 she was requisitioned by the Admiralty for troopship
duties. On 4th June 1918 she was proceeding up the English
Channel in convoy when she was in collision with the
destroyer HMS Rival. A number of the destroyer's depth
charges went overboard and exploded under the stern
of the Kenilworth Castle but she managed to limp safely
into Plymouth. Fifteen men were drowned when two lifeboats
were swamped. In 1919 she was quarantined for three
weeks in Table Bay due to an influenza epidemic in South
Africa. She was broken up in 1936. (Photo1: from UCPSC
22/143 Photo2: from late Mrs M L Norrish)
CLUNY
CASTLE (3) was built in 1903 by Barclay, Curle &
Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 5147grt, a length of
419ft 1in, a beam of 50ft 2in and a service speed of
12 knots. Sister of the Comrie Castle she was used as
an extra steamer when she entered service in September
1903 operating through to Mauritius where she generally
loaded sugar. Both vessels were noted for their 'cork-screwing'
in a head sea and were the only passenger ships built
for the company without any rake. In 1924 she was transferred
to the company's subsidiary company Bullard, King &
Co's Natal Line and renamed Umkuzi and given a taller
funnel. She was finally broken up in 1939.
(Photo: Ship Society of South Africa)
COMRIE CASTLE was built in 1903
by Barclay, Curle & Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage
of 5167grt, a length of 419ft 1in, a beam of 50ft 2in
and a service speed of 12 knots. Sister of the Cluny
Castle she shared the same peculiarities and was similarly
employed as an extra steamer operating through to Mauritius.
During the First World War she spent most of her time
operating as a troopship. In 1924 she was transferred
to the company's subsidiary company Bullard, King &
Co's Natal Line and renamed Umvoti. During 1940 she
was requisitioned by the Admiralty and sunk as a block
ship in Folkestone Harbour, the wreck was removed in
1943 in preparation for 'D' day.
DOVER
CASTLE (2) was built in 1904 by Barclay, Curle &
Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 8271grt, a length of
476ft 5in, a beam of 56ft 8in and a service speed of
14 knots. She was built for the Intermediate service
but in 1910 was transferred to the London-Cape-Mombasa
run. On 11th August 1915 she was commissioned as a hospital
ship for 607 patients plus cots. Two years later, on
17th May 1917, she was torpedoed by UC-67 north of Bone
in the Mediterranean whilst on a voyage from Bone-Malta-Gibraltar.
All 632 patients were saved with most of them being
transferred to the British India hospital ship Karapara.
The wallowing derelict was then sunk by a torpedo fired
from an escorting vessel. (Photo: UCPSC 14/20)
DUNLUCE
CASTLE (2) was built in 1904 by Harland & Wolff
at Belfast with a tonnage of 8114grt, a length of 475ft
5in, a beam of 56ft 8in and a service speed of 14 knots.
Sister of the Dover Castle she was built for the Intermediate
service and in January 1910 undertook the first London-Cape-Delgoa
Bay- Mombasa sailing. In August 1914 she became a troopship
and took part in the famous six ship Union-Castle convoy
which brought 4000 troops to Europe. She was commissioned
as a hospital ship for 755 patients on 6th July 1915
and at Gallipoli and Mudros acted as transfer ship to
White Star's Britannic before going to East Africa for
duty with the Indian Government. In 1916 she was back
in the Mediterranean for service which included voyages
from the Adriatic to North Africa with wounded Serbs.
On 23rd February 1917 she was stopped by a U-boat and
after checking that she was complying with the Hague
Convention was allowed to proceed. She returned to commercial
service on 2nd April 1919 and resumed her original run
until 1931 when she was transferred to the Round Africa
service. In July 1939 she was sold for breaking up but
acquired by the Admiralty for use as an accommodation
ship for small vessels first in the River Humber and
then at Scapa Flow. She was finally broken up by Thos.W.
Ward and Inverkeithing in 1945.
DURHAM
CASTLE was built in 1904 by Fairfield Ship Building
& Engineering Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 8217grt,
a length of 475ft 5in, a beam of 56ft 8in and a service
speed of 14 knots. Sister of the Dover Castle she was
initially deployed as an Intermediate steamship but
was transferred to the Cape - Mombasa run in 1910. During
the First World War she remained on commercial service
but often acted as a troopship on the northbound passage..
In 1931 she was deployed on the East Africa via the
Suez Canal service and in 1939 was put up for disposal
after being replaced by the Pretoria Castle and was
acquired by the Admiralty for war service. On 26th January
1940, while being towed to Scapa Flow for use as a base
accommodation ship, she was mined off Cromarty. The
German U-boat U-57 claimed her as her victim and as
the Durham Castle was clear of the British mine fields
the claim is probably correct. (Photo: UCPSC 16/139)
HELIUS was built in 1888 by
Fairfield Ship Building & Engineering Co. at Glasgow
with a tonnage of 4579grt, a length of 390ft 6in, a
beam of 46ft 8in and a service speed of 10 knots. She
was built as the Dresden for Norddeutscher Lloyd of
Bremen as the first of eight passenger-cargo liners.
In 1903 she was sold to R. P. Houston & Co. for
their South American cargo-passenger service to South
America and renamed Helius. She was acquired by Union-Castle
as a reserve steamer in 1904 and laid up at Netley.
However, after the end of the Boer War an 1902 there
was a surplus of tonnage to South Africa and she was
no longer required. Consequently, she was sold to the
Turkish Government in 1906 and renamed Tirimujghian.
On 6th November 1914 she was sunk by Russian forces
in the Black Sea.
STORK was built in 1905 by Hawthorn
& Co. at Leith with a tonnage of 278grt, a length
of 115ft 7in, a beam of 24ft 1in and a service speed
of 8 knots. She was built to replace the Midge as the
tender at East London carrying passengers and their
baggage from the mail ships lying in the roadstead.
Because of the heavy swell the gangway could not be
used so large baskets were swung over the side and onto
the tender by the ship's derricks. Sold in 1942 to the
South African Government she remained with them for
about ten years before she was broken up.
HANSA was built in 1904 by A.G.
'Neptun' at Rostock with a tonnage of 880grt, a length
of 215ft, a beam of 30ft 7in and a service speed of
9 knots. She was built for Donald Currie's Liverpool
to Hamburg Line and transferred to Union-Castle in 1907
where she operated the Hamburg - Bremen - Southampton
feeder service with the Eider. In 1937 she was sold
to Jack Billmeir and renamed Stanray. Billmeir purchased
23 elderly ships to trade to Spain and the Mediterranean
during the Spanish Civil War (17th July 1936 until April
1939). More often than not they were loaded for one
voyage with pre-paid supplies for the Republican War
Zone in Spain. On 9th June 1937 the Hansa was machine
gunned by aircraft during the approach to Valencia without
any casualties and broken up in Belgium during 1938.
BALMORAL
CASTLE (2) was built in 1910 by Fairfield Ship Building
& Engineering Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 13361grt,
a length of 570ft, a beam of 64ft 6in and a service
speed of 14 knots. Sister of the Edinburgh Castle she
was based on the Walmer Castle but without a break in
the after superstructure. When she made her maiden mail
voyage in February 1910 she completed the run in 16.5
days. In October of the same year, acting as a royal
yacht with a white hull and yellow funnels, she carried
the Duke and Duchess of Connaught to South Africa for
the opening of Parliament. She was requisitioned as
a troopship on the northbound voyages in 1914 but continued
to maintain the mail service. Between March and May
1915 she trooped to Gallipoli landing them on 23rd April.
Following the Armistice in 1918 she repatriated US and
Australian troops. In 1919 she made to voyages between
Liverpool and New York for Cunard before returning to
service with Union-Castle. She was broken up at Newport,
Monmouthshire in June 1939. (Photo: UCPSC 08/112)
EDINBURGH
CASTLE (2) was built in 1910 by Harland & Wolff
at Belfast with a tonnage of 13362grt, a length of 570ft,
a beam of 64ft 5in and a service speed of 14 knots.
Sister of the Balmoral Castle she was the last of a
group of almost identical ships and replaced the Norman.
On 14th August 1914 sailed from Cape Town with mail
and government only passengers to Gibraltar where she
embarked troops before being escorted to England by
HMS Minerva. She was then taken over as an auxiliary
cruiser for the South Atlantic patrol and in January
1915 sailed from Devonport for South Africa with White
Star's Ceramic to hunt for the German ships Karlsruhe
and Kronprins Wilhelm. In 1918 served in the North Atlantic
on convoy work. She resumed commercial operations in
1919 after a refit and during that year carried General
Smuts back to South Africa. She was withdrawn from service
in 1938 and laid up at Netley until she was bought by
the Admiralty for use as an accommodation ship in Freetown,
Sierra Leone for Naval personnel and survivors of sunken
ships. In 1945, as towing back to England would not
be cost effective, she was towed 60 miles out to sea
by the tug Empire Lawn and sunk by gunfire and depth
charges from the armed trawler Cape Warwick, HMS Porchester
Castle and HMS Launceston Castle.
FIREFLY was a launch built in
1910 for use at Cape Town and transported there by the
Dunluce Castle.
GLOWORM was a sister of the
Firefly also built in 1910 for use at Mombasa. She was
sold by the company in 1920.
GRANTULLY
CASTLE (2) was built in 1910 by Barclay, Curle &
Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 7612grt, a length of
450ft 7in, a beam of 54ft 4in and a service speed of
13 knots. Together with her sister, the Garth Castle,
she was one of the last pair ordered under the personal
supervision of Sir Donald Currie who died on 23rd April
1909 at the age of 83. One of five ships built for the
Intermediate trade she was given a 'G' name to replace
the ex-Union 'G' class but the class was never as popular
as the 'D' class ships. In January 1915 she was being
used as a troopship and while at Mudros during the Gallipoli
campaign, in company with the Alnwick Castle, and Balmoral
Castle, was held for five weeks from 18th March when
the troops, because of mines, were unable to force the
Dardanelles straits until 23rd April when they eventually
landed to oppose a re-inforced Turkish army. She left
the Dardanelles on 1st May 1915 for Malta where she
was commissioned as a hospital ship with 552 beds. She
reverted to Union-Castle on 11th March 1919 and served
for a further 20 years before being broken up in 1939.
(Photo: UCPSC 13/134)
GARTH
CASTLE (2) was built in 1910 by Barclay, Curle &
Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 7612grt, a length of
452ft 7in, a beam of 54ft 4in and a service speed of
13 knots. Sister of the Grantully Castle she spent most
of her career on the Intermediate service. In 1915 she
was requisitioned by the Royal Navy for use as a supply
ship and moving naval personnel to places like Scapa
Flow where they would join their ships. She was later
used as a hospital ship and on 24th June 1917, during
a fleet inspection, the surgeons and nursing staff were
presented to HM King George V. She was broken up in
1939 (Photo: UCPSC 05/139)
KENILWORTH
CASTLE (2) was built in 1904 by Harland & Wolff
at Belfast with a tonnage of 12275grt, a length of 570ft
2in, a beam of 64ft 8in and a service speed of 17.5
knots. Sister of the Armadale Castle she entered service
in May 1904 and in 
August
1914 she was requisitioned by the Admiralty for troopship
duties. On 4th June 1918 she was proceeding up the English
Channel in convoy when she was in collision with the
destroyer HMS Rival. A number of the destroyer's depth
charges went overboard and exploded under the stern
of the Kenilworth Castle but she managed to limp safely
into Plymouth. Fifteen men were drowned when two lifeboats
were swamped. In 1919 she was quarantined for three
weeks in Table Bay due to an influenza epidemic in South
Africa. She was broken up in 1936. (Photo1: from UCPSC
22/143 Photo2: from late Mrs M L Norrish) 
CLUNY
CASTLE (3) was built in 1903 by Barclay, Curle &
Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 5147grt, a length of
419ft 1in, a beam of 50ft 2in and a service speed of
12 knots. Sister of the Comrie Castle she was used as
an extra steamer when she entered service in September
1903 operating through to Mauritius where she generally
loaded sugar. Both vessels were noted for their 'cork-screwing'
in a head sea and were the only passenger ships built
for the company without any rake. In 1924 she was transferred
to the company's subsidiary company Bullard, King &
Co's Natal Line and renamed Umkuzi and given a taller
funnel. She was finally broken up in 1939.
DOVER
CASTLE (2) was built in 1904 by Barclay, Curle &
Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 8271grt, a length of
476ft 5in, a beam of 56ft 8in and a service speed of
14 knots. She was built for the Intermediate service
but in 1910 was transferred to the London-Cape-Mombasa
run. On 11th August 1915 she was commissioned as a hospital
ship for 607 patients plus cots. Two years later, on
17th May 1917, she was torpedoed by UC-67 north of Bone
in the Mediterranean whilst on a voyage from Bone-Malta-Gibraltar.
All 632 patients were saved with most of them being
transferred to the British India hospital ship Karapara.
The wallowing derelict was then sunk by a torpedo fired
from an escorting vessel. (Photo: UCPSC 14/20) 
DUNLUCE
CASTLE (2) was built in 1904 by Harland & Wolff
at Belfast with a tonnage of 8114grt, a length of 475ft
5in, a beam of 56ft 8in and a service speed of 14 knots.
Sister of the Dover Castle she was built for the Intermediate
service and in January 1910 undertook the first London-Cape-Delgoa
Bay- Mombasa sailing. In August 1914 she became a troopship
and took part in the famous six ship Union-Castle convoy
which brought 4000 troops to Europe. She was commissioned
as a hospital ship for 755 patients on 6th July 1915
and at Gallipoli and Mudros acted as transfer ship to
White Star's Britannic before going to East Africa for
duty with the Indian Government. In 1916 she was back
in the Mediterranean for service which included voyages
from the Adriatic to North Africa with wounded Serbs.
On 23rd February 1917 she was stopped by a U-boat and
after checking that she was complying with the Hague
Convention was allowed to proceed. She returned to commercial
service on 2nd April 1919 and resumed her original run
until 1931 when she was transferred to the Round Africa
service. In July 1939 she was sold for breaking up but
acquired by the Admiralty for use as an accommodation
ship for small vessels first in the River Humber and
then at Scapa Flow. She was finally broken up by Thos.W.
Ward and Inverkeithing in 1945. 
DURHAM
CASTLE was built in 1904 by Fairfield Ship Building
& Engineering Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 8217grt,
a length of 475ft 5in, a beam of 56ft 8in and a service
speed of 14 knots. Sister of the Dover Castle she was
initially deployed as an Intermediate steamship but
was transferred to the Cape - Mombasa run in 1910. During
the First World War she remained on commercial service
but often acted as a troopship on the northbound passage..
In 1931 she was deployed on the East Africa via the
Suez Canal service and in 1939 was put up for disposal
after being replaced by the Pretoria Castle and was
acquired by the Admiralty for war service. On 26th January
1940, while being towed to Scapa Flow for use as a base
accommodation ship, she was mined off Cromarty. The
German U-boat U-57 claimed her as her victim and as
the Durham Castle was clear of the British mine fields
the claim is probably correct. (Photo: UCPSC 16/139)
BALMORAL
CASTLE (2) was built in 1910 by Fairfield Ship Building
& Engineering Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 13361grt,
a length of 570ft, a beam of 64ft 6in and a service
speed of 14 knots. Sister of the Edinburgh Castle she
was based on the Walmer Castle but without a break in
the after superstructure. When she made her maiden mail
voyage in February 1910 she completed the run in 16.5
days. In October of the same year, acting as a royal
yacht with a white hull and yellow funnels, she carried
the Duke and Duchess of Connaught to South Africa for
the opening of Parliament. She was requisitioned as
a troopship on the northbound voyages in 1914 but continued
to maintain the mail service. Between March and May
1915 she trooped to Gallipoli landing them on 23rd April.
Following the Armistice in 1918 she repatriated US and
Australian troops. In 1919 she made to voyages between
Liverpool and New York for Cunard before returning to
service with Union-Castle. She was broken up at Newport,
Monmouthshire in June 1939. (Photo: UCPSC 08/112) 
EDINBURGH
CASTLE (2) was built in 1910 by Harland & Wolff
at Belfast with a tonnage of 13362grt, a length of 570ft,
a beam of 64ft 5in and a service speed of 14 knots.
Sister of the Balmoral Castle she was the last of a
group of almost identical ships and replaced the Norman.
On 14th August 1914 sailed from Cape Town with mail
and government only passengers to Gibraltar where she
embarked troops before being escorted to England by
HMS Minerva. She was then taken over as an auxiliary
cruiser for the South Atlantic patrol and in January
1915 sailed from Devonport for South Africa with White
Star's Ceramic to hunt for the German ships Karlsruhe
and Kronprins Wilhelm. In 1918 served in the North Atlantic
on convoy work. She resumed commercial operations in
1919 after a refit and during that year carried General
Smuts back to South Africa. She was withdrawn from service
in 1938 and laid up at Netley until she was bought by
the Admiralty for use as an accommodation ship in Freetown,
Sierra Leone for Naval personnel and survivors of sunken
ships. In 1945, as towing back to England would not
be cost effective, she was towed 60 miles out to sea
by the tug Empire Lawn and sunk by gunfire and depth
charges from the armed trawler Cape Warwick, HMS Porchester
Castle and HMS Launceston Castle. 
GRANTULLY
CASTLE (2) was built in 1910 by Barclay, Curle &
Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 7612grt, a length of
450ft 7in, a beam of 54ft 4in and a service speed of
13 knots. Together with her sister, the Garth Castle,
she was one of the last pair ordered under the personal
supervision of Sir Donald Currie who died on 23rd April
1909 at the age of 83. One of five ships built for the
Intermediate trade she was given a 'G' name to replace
the ex-Union 'G' class but the class was never as popular
as the 'D' class ships. In January 1915 she was being
used as a troopship and while at Mudros during the Gallipoli
campaign, in company with the Alnwick Castle, and Balmoral
Castle, was held for five weeks from 18th March when
the troops, because of mines, were unable to force the
Dardanelles straits until 23rd April when they eventually
landed to oppose a re-inforced Turkish army. She left
the Dardanelles on 1st May 1915 for Malta where she
was commissioned as a hospital ship with 552 beds. She
reverted to Union-Castle on 11th March 1919 and served
for a further 20 years before being broken up in 1939.
GARTH
CASTLE (2) was built in 1910 by Barclay, Curle &
Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 7612grt, a length of
452ft 7in, a beam of 54ft 4in and a service speed of
13 knots. Sister of the Grantully Castle she spent most
of her career on the Intermediate service. In 1915 she
was requisitioned by the Royal Navy for use as a supply
ship and moving naval personnel to places like Scapa
Flow where they would join their ships. She was later
used as a hospital ship and on 24th June 1917, during
a fleet inspection, the surgeons and nursing staff were
presented to HM King George V. She was broken up in
1939 (Photo: UCPSC 05/139) 
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