The first RMS ''Windsor Castle'', along with her sister, , was an

ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). Ca ...

laid down by 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 ...

for service from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. During

World War 2 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 ...

the ''Windsor Castle'' was requisitioned 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 ...

and on 23 March 1943 was sunk by an aerial torpedo off the coast of

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History

Construction and design

Originally designed for the Union-Castle Line in 1913, she was ordered from

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 Wh ...

but her construction was held up by the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The continuation of the war until late 1918 led Harland & Wolff to subcontract her building to

John Brown & Company John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish Naval architecture, marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and the ''Queen Elizabeth 2 (ship), Queen Elizabeth 2''. At its ...

. ''Windsor Castle'' was not completed until 1922. The two ships were the only four-stacked ocean liners built and design for a route other than the

transatlantic crossing Transatlantic crossings are passages of passengers and cargo across the Atlantic Ocean between Europe or Africa and the Americas. The majority of passenger traffic is across the North Atlantic between Western Europe and North America. Centuries ...

. She had a capacity of 234 first, 362 second, and 274 third-class passengers. The liner had two masts and two propellers and could reach a top speed of 18 knots. In her refit she was given a raked bow which lengthened her from , to , and had her passenger capacity reduced from 870 to 604. Her top speed was increased to , and her tonnage increased to 19,141 gross register tons.

Ocean Liner Career

''Windsor Castle'' set out on her maiden voyage from

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 ...

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 ...

in April 1922. This gave the Union-Castle Line the two largest ships on that run to provide an alternating service between England and South Africa. And apart from the comforts, the ship had also been designed with safety in mind. The hull was subdivided into twelve watertight compartments and a double bottom. Furthermore, Windsor Castle was equipped with many lifeboats, with room for the ship’s total capacity of passengers. Just aft of the fourth funnel, the ship had a pair of gantry davits (like those carried on ) alone capable of handling twelve boats.

1930s refit

During the 1930s, ''Windsor'' and ''Arundel'' were given refits to make them look more modern. This included reducing their funnels from four to two, with new Babcock-Johnson boilers, and they both were given raked, more modern bows, which slightly increased their length. Also removed were the ships' large gantry-like

davit Boat suspended from radial davits; the boat is mechanically lowered Gravity multi-pivot on Scandinavia'' file:Bossoir a gravité.jpg, Gravity Roller Davit file:Davits-starbrd.png, Gravity multi-pivot davit holding rescue vessel on North Sea ferr ...

s capable of carrying six lifeboats each, which were replaced with the much more common Welin davits featured on liners such as .

World War 2 and Sinking

Requisitioned as a

troop transport 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 ...

in 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 opposin ...

, she was bombed west of Ireland in 1941 but the bomb never exploded and she reached port. She was used for transatlantic trooping from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

in 1942. in 1943, ''Windsor Castle'' was sunk by a

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

launched from a German aircraft while in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

as part of convoy KMF-11. She was hit by the torpedo at 2:30 am but did not sink until 5:25 pm, stern first, WNW of

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. Only one crewman was killed, 2,699 troops and 289 crew were rescued by the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s , , and .

References

External links

MaritimeQuest RMS Windsor Castle pages
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Windsor Castle (1922) Ocean liners Four funnel liners Ships sunk by German aircraft Ships of the Union-Castle Line 1921 ships Maritime incidents in March 1943 World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea