MV ''Carnarvon Castle'' was an ocean liner of the

Union-Castle Line The Union-Castle Line was a British shipping line that operated a fleet of passenger liners and cargo ships between Europe and Africa from 1900 to 1977. It was formed from the merger of the Union Line and Castle Shipping Line. It merged with ...

. She was requisitioned for service as an

auxiliary cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in ...

by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Construction and early career

''Carnarvon Castle'' was built by

Harland and Wolff Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the W ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

and launched on 14 January 1926. She was completed on 26 June 1926 and entered service for the

. She was named after Caernarfon Castle. She was the first of the Union-Castle mail ships to exceed 20,000 tons and was the first motor ship to be used on the sailings between Britain and the Cape of Good Hope. She had two squat funnels, the foremost being a dummy. She served on the route until 1936, when a revised contract to carry the mails required a speed of at least , which would result in a voyage to the Cape lasting no more than 13 and a half days. ''Carnarvon Castle'' required a refit and was reworked by her original builders between 1937 and 1938. Her engines were replaced, a single funnel replaced the original two and her passenger capacity was altered. After undergoing

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s on 26 June 1938, she returned to her original route on 8 July, setting a new record for the passage to the Cape of 12 days, 13 hours, 38 minutes. The record stood until 1954.

War service

''Carnarvon Castle'' was at

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

at the outbreak of the Second World War, and was requisitioned by the Royal Navy on 8 September 1939. She sailed to the naval base at Simonstown and was converted to an armed merchant cruiser. Commissioned as HMS ''Carnarvon Castle'' on 9 October, she sailed into the

South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

. On 5 December 1940 she encountered the and had a five-hour running battle with her. She suffered heavily in the battle, sustaining 27 hits and suffering 4 dead and 27 wounded. ''Thor'' was apparently undamaged in the encounter. ''Carnarvon Castle'' put into Montevideo for repairs with steel plate reportedly salvaged from the . Postcard RMMV Carnarvon Castle

''Carnarvon Castle''s career as an armed merchant cruiser came to an end when she was decommissioned in December 1943. There were plans to convert her into an aircraft carrier but these were abandoned and she underwent a conversion to a

troopship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1944. She remained on trooping duties after the war and was finally released from naval service in March 1947. Returned to her original owners, she was back on the route to South Africa by June 1947. With her trooping accommodation only marginally upgraded, she carried a flood of post war emigrants from Britain on low cost assisted passages to East and South Africa. She was again refitted, to more luxurious standards, by Harland and Wolff in early 1949. Resuming service on 15 June 1950, she served until her retirement and sale. She arrived at Mihara, Japan on 8 September 1963 and was scrapped.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Carnarvon Castle 1926 ships Ships built by Harland and Wolff Ships built in Belfast World War II Auxiliary cruisers of the Royal Navy World War II auxiliary ships of the United Kingdom Troop ships of the Royal Navy Uruguay in World War II Ships of the Union-Castle Line