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ATHLONE CASTLE was built in 1936 by Harland &
Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 25564grt †, a length of 696ft, a
beam of 82ft 5in and a service speed of 20 knots. Sister of the
Stirling Castle, she was launched by the Princess Alice, wife of the
Earl of Athlone, a former Governor General of South Africa, on 28th
November 1935. On 5th November 1937 she was the first mail ship to
call at Buffalo Harbour at East London and on 22nd December 1938
inaugurated the 14 days or under 'Accelerated' schedule as
stipulated in the 1936 mail contract. In 1940 she was the commodore
ship of a Union-Castle convoy made up of the Arundel Castle, the
Windsor Castle, the Winchester Castle, the Durban Castle and the
Capetown Castle to carry South African troops to Suez following the
outbreak of fighting in North Africa. During 1943, together with her
sister, she trooped between the USA and UK carrying some 150,000
troops without any serious incident. In 1946 she underwent a refit
and continued in service until 6th August 1965 when she concluded
her 141st voyage at Southampton. Her sale had already been
negotiated and ten days later she sailed for Kaohsuing in Taiwan
where she arrived on 13th September for breaking up by the China
Steel Corporation.
† grt: Gross Registered Ton. A measure of the internal volume, or closed in
spaces, of a vessel. One gross registered ton is equal to one
hundred cubic feet (28.3 cu.m.).
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