![Union-Castle House - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Union-Castle_House_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1722354.jpg)
The Union-Castle Line was a British
shipping line
A shipping line or shipping company is a company whose line of business is ownership and operation of ships.
Shipping companies provide a method of distinguishing ships by different kinds of cargo:
# Bulk cargo is a type of special cargo that is ...
that operated a fleet of
passenger liner
A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...
s and
cargo ship
A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...
s 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
Bullard King and
Clan Line
The Clan Line was a passenger and cargo shipping company that operated in one incarnation or another from the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century.
History Foundation and early years
The company that would become the Clan Lin ...
in 1956 to form
British & Commonwealth Shipping, and then with
South African Marine Corporation
Safmarine, short for South African Marine Container Lines N.V.'','' is a South African international shipping entity and former company offering container and break-bulk shipping services worldwide. It is now owned by its parent company Maersk ...
(commonly referred to as
Safmarine
Safmarine, short for South African Marine Container Lines N.V.'','' is a South African international shipping entity and former company offering container and break-bulk shipping services worldwide. It is now owned by its parent company Maersk ...
) in 1973 to create
International Liner Services
International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations".
International may also refer to:
Music Albums
* ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011
* ''International'' (New Order album), 2002
* ''International'' (The T ...
, but maintained its separate identity throughout. Its shipping operations ceased in 1977.
Predecessor lines
![HS Glenart Castle torpedoed and sunk 26](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/HS_Glenart_Castle_torpedoed_and_sunk_26.02.1918.JPG)
The Union Line was founded in 1853 as the Southampton Steam Shipping Company to transport coal from
South Wales
South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...
to
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 ...
. It was renamed the Union Steam Collier Company and then the Union Steamship Company. In 1857, renamed the Union Line, it won a contract to carry mail to South Africa, mainly the
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...
. The inaugural sailing of the ''Dane'' left Southampton on 15 September.
Meanwhile,
Donald Currie
Sir Donald Currie (17 September 182513 April 1909) was a Scottish shipowner, politician and philanthropist.
Early life and career
He was born at Greenock, Renfrewshire, on 17 September 1825, the third son of ten children of James Currie (1797 ...
had built up the Castle Packet Co. which traded to
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
round the
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.
A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...
. This trade was substantially curtailed by the opening of the
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...
in 1869, and the Castle Line started to run to South Africa instead, later becoming the Castle Mail Packet Company.
In 1872 the Cape Colony gained
responsible government
Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...
and its first Prime Minister,
John Molteno
Sir John Charles Molteno (5 June 1814 – 1 September 1886) was a soldier, businessman, champion of responsible government and the first Prime Minister of the Cape Colony.
Early life
Born in London into a large Anglo-Italian family, Molten ...
, ordered a re-negotiation of the country's mail services. In 1876, keen to avoid either of the two main companies gaining a monopoly on the country's shipping, he awarded the South African mail contract jointly to both the Castle Mail Packet Company and the Union Line. The contract included a condition that the two companies would not amalgamate, as well as other clauses to promote competition, such as alternating services and speed premiums. This competition led to their shipping services running at unprecedented speed and efficiency. The contract was eventually to expire however, and the period of intense competition was later to give way to co-operation, including transporting troops and military equipment during the
Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...
. Finally, on 8 March 1900, the Union Line and Castle Shipping Line merged, creating the Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company, Ltd, with Castle Shipping Line taking over the fleet.
Union-Castle Line
![StateLibQld 1 133529 Athlone Castle (ship)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/StateLibQld_1_133529_Athlone_Castle_%28ship%29.jpg)
Union-Castle named most of their ships with the suffix "Castle" in their names; the names of several inherited from the Union Line were changed to this scheme (for example, ''Galician'' became ) but others (such as ) retained their original name. They were well known for the lavender-hulled liners with red funnels topped in black, running on a rigid timetable between
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 ...
and
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 ...
. Every Thursday at 4pm a Union-Castle
Royal Mail Ship
Royal Mail Ship (sometimes Steam-ship or Steamer), usually seen in its abbreviated form RMS, is the ship prefix used for seagoing vessels that carry mail under contract to the British Royal Mail. The designation dates back to 1840. Any vessel de ...
would leave Southampton bound for Cape Town. At the same time, a Union-Castle Royal Mail Ship would leave Cape Town bound for Southampton. In 1922 the line introduced its Round Africa service, a nine-week voyage calling at twenty ports en route. Alternate sailings travelled out via the
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...
and out via West Africa.
[
The combined line was bought by ]Royal Mail Line
The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was a British shipping company founded in London in 1839 by a Scot, James MacQueen. The line's motto was ''Per Mare Ubique'' (everywhere by sea). After a troubled start, it became the largest shipping group ...
in 1911, but continued to operate as Union-Castle. Many of the line's vessels were requisitioned for service as troop ship
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 ...
s or hospital ship
A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones. ...
s in the First World War, and eight were sunk by mines or German U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...
s. The Royal Mail Line ran into financial difficulties in the 1930s, culminating in the prosecution of its director Lord Kylsant
Owen Cosby Philipps, 1st Baron Kylsant (25 March 1863 – 5 June 1937) was a British businessman and politician, jailed in 1931 for producing a document with intent to deceive.
Background
Philipps was the third of five sons of the Reverend Sir J ...
, and Union-Castle Line became an independent company again with Vernon Thomson as Managing Director. Many vessels were again requisitioned in the Second World War. Three – , ''Carnarvon Castle'', ''Dunvegan Castle
, native_name_lang =Gaelic
, alternate_name =
, image = Dunvegan Castle.jpg
, image_size =
, alt =
, caption = The south-west face of the castle
, map =
, map_type = Scotland Isle of Skye ...
'' became armed merchant 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 lo ...
s. (1939) was also first requisitioned as an armed merchant cruiser, but later served as an escort carrier
The escort carrier or escort aircraft carrier (U.S. hull classification symbol CVE), also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the United States Navy (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft ...
.
After the war the line made good use of its three ships converted to troop transports to facilitate carrying the vast number of emigrants seeking new lives in East and South Africa. When they ran out of berths the line set up its own internal travel agency to book passages on other lines and even air services. The mail service to South Africa, curtailed during hostilities, recommenced with the sailing of ''Roxburgh Castle'' from Southampton on 2 January 1947.[
]
British & Commonwealth, and International Liner Services
The company took over the King Line in 1949, and merged with Bullard King and Clan Line
The Clan Line was a passenger and cargo shipping company that operated in one incarnation or another from the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century.
History Foundation and early years
The company that would become the Clan Lin ...
in 1956 to form British & Commonwealth Shipping. It merged with South African Marine Corporation
Safmarine, short for South African Marine Container Lines N.V.'','' is a South African international shipping entity and former company offering container and break-bulk shipping services worldwide. It is now owned by its parent company Maersk ...
in 1973 to create International Liner Services, but competition with air travel adversely affected its shipping activities, and cargo shipping rapidly became containerised
Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called shipping containers and ISO containers). Containerization is also referred as "Container Stuffing" or "Container Loading", which is the pr ...
. The final South African mail service arrived in Southampton on 24 October 1977, and International Liner Services withdrew from shipping in 1982. British & Commonwealth continued in other fields, and acquired Atlantic Computers Atlantic Computers plc (also Atlantic Computer Systems plc) was a British computer lessor and technology services firm, set up in 1975, that collapsed in 1990. Its fall also brought down its parent company British and Commonwealth Holdings, a fina ...
in 1989, but accounting problems soon became apparent and British & Commonwealth was liquidated in 1990.
In the 1950s and 60s the line operated a fleet of fifteen ships, eight on the principal weekly mail run from Southampton to Cape Town. Each ship could carry an average of two hundred First Class passengers and four hundred and fifty in Tourist Class. Six of the remaining ships operated the monthly Round Africa service, sailing both clockwise and anti-clockwise round the continent. The remaining ship operated a service carrying up to 750 Tourist Class passengers to Beira and back via the West Coast route every three months.
In December 1999 the Union-Castle name was revived for a millennium cruise; the P&O ship was chartered for a 60-day cruise around Africa, and had its funnel repainted for the occasion.
The last few surviving Union-Castle Line ships were scrapped in the early 21st century, the former '' Kenya Castle'' in 2001, the former in 2003, the former ''Dunnottar Castle'' in 2004, and finally in 2005.
Ships
The initial Union fleet consisted of the colliers ''Union'', ''Briton'', ''Saxon'', ''Norman'' and ''Dane''. In 1860 this was augmented by the much larger ''Cambrian''.[
At the time of the merger in 1900, the Union fleet included:
:''Arab'' (1879-1900), ''Briton'' (1897-1926), ''Falcon'', ''Gaika'' (1896-1926), (1899-1916), ''Galician'' (1900-1918), (1897-1928), ''Gaul'' (1893-1906), ''German'' (2) (1898-1930), ''Goorkka'', ''Goth'' (1893-1913), ''Greek'' (1893-1906), ''Guelph'' (1894-1913), ''Mexican'' (1883-1900), ''Moor'' (1881-1901), ''Norman'' (2) (1894-1926), ''Sabine'' (1895-1921), (1900-1935), ''Scot'' (1891-1905), ''Spartan'' (1881-1900), ''Susquehanna'' (1896-1926), and ''Trojan'' (1880-1900), with ''Celt'' on order (renamed before it came into service)
and the Castle Line fleet included:
:'']Arundel Castle
Arundel Castle is a restored and remodelled medieval castle in Arundel, West Sussex, England. It was established during the reign of Edward the Confessor and completed by Roger de Montgomery. The castle was damaged in the English Civil War a ...
'' (3) (1894–1905), ''Avondale Castle'' (1897–1912), ''Braemar Castle
Braemar Castle is situated near the village of Braemar in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is a possession of the chief of Clan Farquharson and is leased to a local charitable foundation. It is open to the public.
History
From the Late Middle Ages, ...
'' (1) (1898–1924), ''Carisbrook Castle'' (1898–1922), ''Doune Castle'' (1890–1904), ''Dunolly Castle'' (1897–1905), (1890–1913), ''Dunvegan Castle'' (1896–1923), ''Garth Castle'' (1880–1901), ''Harlech Castle'' (1894–1904), ''Hawarden Castle'' (1883–1904), (1899–1931), ''Kinfauns Castle'' (2) (1899–1927), ''Lismore Castle'' (1891–1904), '' (1883–1903), (2) (1883–1906), ''Raglan Castle'' (1897–1905), ''Roslin Castle'' (2) (1883–1904), ''Tantallon Castle'' (2) (1894–1901), ''Tintagel Castle'' (1) (1896–1912)
References
Sources and further reading
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External links
*
*
Collection of Passenger Lists of the Union-Castle Line
GG Archives
GG Archives
{{Authority control
1853 establishments in the United Kingdom
1990 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Defunct shipping companies of the United Kingdom
Maritime history of South Africa
Transport companies disestablished in 1990
Transport companies established in 1853