RMMV ''Stirling Castle'' was a British
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 ...
built by
Harland & 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 ...
in Belfast for the Southampton to South Africa mail service. She was launched on 15 August 1935 and was the first of two identical sister ships, being joined a few months later by the
''Athlone Castle''.
A third, slightly larger, ship of the class, the
''Capetown Castle'', joined them in 1938.
Propulsion
Harland and Wolff built her two
Burmeister & Wain
Burmeister & Wain was a large established Danish shipyard and leading diesel engine producer headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded by two Danes and an Englishman, its earliest roots stretch back to 1846. Over its 150-year history, it ...
engines under license. They were the largest marine oil engines constructed in Britain until then. Each engine was a
double-acting 10-cylinder marine
two-stroke diesels developing 24,000
hp with bore x stroke x . Each engine was high from the centre of the crankshaft, long and weighed , and drove a single screw.
Service
''Stirling Castle'' left
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
on her maiden voyage on 7 February 1936. In August of that year she set a new record for the route, reaching
Table Bay
Table Bay (Afrikaans: ''Tafelbaai'') is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town (founded 1652 by Van Riebeeck) and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named b ...
in 13 days 9 hours, beating the previous record of 14 days, 18 hours, and 57 minutes had set in 1893.
During
World War II
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 opposing ...
, ''Stirling Castle'' was used as 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 ...
. She came through the war unscathed after steaming some 505,000 miles and carrying 128,000 personnel.
She was released from government service in 1946. In 1946, she sailed from Southampton on 31 August for Australia arriving at Fremantle on 28 September. Her builders then refitted her and she resumed passenger service in 1947.
The mail service was accelerated in 1965 and ''Stirling Castle'' and her sisters had insufficient speed to maintain the new schedule. They were replaced by two new fast cargo ships (the new schedule required only seven ships rather than eight) and ''Stirling Castle'' was withdrawn from service upon arrival at Southampton on 30 November 1965.
Fate
A proposed sale to Taiwan breakers (where her sister had gone two months earlier) fell through and she was instead sold for scrapping in Japan. She left Southampton on 1 February 1966 for
Mihara. She arrived there on 3 March 1966 to be broken up by Nichimen Co.
[Kludas, Great Passenger Ships of the World Vol.4]
References
Further reading
*, illustrated description of the ship
External links
An account of life on board this ship and others of the Union-Castle Line in the 1960sPhoto of ''Stirling Castles engines before installation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stirling Castle
1935 ships
Ocean liners
Ships built by Harland and Wolff
Ships built in Belfast
Ships of the Union-Castle Line
World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom