By this time the Boer War had started
and Britain had gone to war in South Africa. Several ships from
both fleets had been commandeered for military purposes including
the 3487-ton "Spartan" which was deployed on hospital
duties. When, on conclusion of the Boer War, the ships resumed
civil operations in May 1902 they returned to the merged fleet
under the Union-Castle house flag.
In 1910 the company's intermediate service
was extended northwards to Mombasa to link with an East African
service which operated via the Suez Canal. This operation was
undertaken jointly with the British India Steam Navigation Company.
The vessels initially deployed on these routes were Union Line
'G' ships based on the design of the 1893, Belfast built, "Gaul",
"Goth" and "Greek". All three were of 4750-tons
and elegant in design but in 1910-11 they were replaced with
more economical and reliable and not so elegant Castle vessels.
1912 was another milestone in the history
of the Union-Castle Line. Not only had the mail contract time
been reduced to 16 days 15 hours, which was well within the
capability of the "Briton" and her successors, but
the company was also to lose its independence. Sir Owen Philips,
owner of the Royal Mail Steam Packet } Co, was looking to expand
his operation and, consequently, on April 18th, acquired a large
holding of ordinary shares in the Union-Castle Mail Steamship
Company, and with it, financial and management control. Fortunately,
the day to day running of the company was not affected and nor
was there any loss of identity as the fleet continued to be
managed independently.
With the outbreak of World War 1 in August
1914 many vessels were commandeered for government service as
armed merchant cruisers, troopships or hospital ships. The "Armadale
Castle", the "Edinburgh Castle" and the "Kinfauns
Castle" became armed merchant cruisers and the mail ships
came through the war relatively unscathed. The vessels on the
intermediate service and the cargo ships were not so fortunate
and there were grievous losses; the sinking of the "Llandovery
Castle" being particularly harrowing.
The "Guelph"
These vessels had to be replaced before the
company could resume its former itineraries to the Cape and
East Africa. In the early 1920's the most elderly vessels on
the mail run, the former Union Line ships "Norman"
and "Briton" were replaced by the 19000-ton "Arundel
Castle" and the "Windsor Castle". Powered by
a pair of coal-fired steam turbines they had four funnels, cruiser
sterns and ungainly Topliss gravity davits. Not particularly
nice to look at they were satisfactory in service and proved
very popular with the travelling public. However, steam was
now being superceded by diesel and Lord Kylsant (formerly Sir
Owen Philips) played an influencing role in encouraging the
company to make the switch. The company took delivery of the
20141-ton "Carnarvon Castle" from Harland & Wolff}
in 1926 as the first diesel engined motor ship for the mail
run and the East Africa service which, in 1922, had become known
as the Round Africa service. She was a distinctive vessel with
two well-raked masts and two squat funnels, the top of which
where cut parallel with the deck. The conditions of the mail
contracts which, by now, were renewed annually, remained unchanged
and the service speed was still 16 knots.
In 1931 the Kylsant empire collapsed. Fortunately,
the Union-Castle Line was detached from the Royal Mail group
relatively unscathed as the material and financial connections
weren't as complicated as other companies in the group. The
company was, once again, independent and able to carry on business
without any untoward changes.
The link with Harland & Wolff was maintained
and remained so for the next 25 years. By now the Union-Castle
Line had nine 16-knot mailships, the "Armadale Castle",
the "Kenilworth Castle", the "Balmoral Castle",
the "Edinburgh Castle", the "Arundel Castle",
the "Windsor Castle", the "Carnarvon Castle",
the "Winchester Castle" and the "Warwick Castle"
together with 11 intermediate Round Africa ships and half a
dozen cargo vessels.
The mail contract negotiated
in 1936 required a reduction of the passage time to no less
than 14 days which required a service speed of 19 knots. Two
motor ships, the "Stirling Castle" and the "Athlone
Castle" were already being built at the Harland & Wolff
shipyard but a further 8 vessels would by needed to fulfil the
faster service. Three years was allowed to modernise the fleet
and the task was completed by building a third new motor ship,
the "Capetown Castle", and re-engining the steam turbine
powered "Arundel Castle" and "Windsor Castle"
as well as the older motor ships "Carnarvon Castle",
"Warwick Castle" and "Winchester Castle".
During the re-engining the "Arundel Castle" and "Windsor
Castle" were re-modelled and transformed into two magnificent
looking ships with two new well proportioned funnels and sweeping
curved stems.
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