Athlone Castle

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.

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 Arundel Castle, Windsor Castle, Winchester Castle, Durban Castle and 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.

1937, April 14th arrived Cape Town with new outward bound record of 13 days, 00 hrs. 51 minutes

1937, November 5th. first mail ship to berth at East London.

1940, December 27th. requisitioned for war transport. In six years carried a total of 148,113 troops.

1942, November. North Africa campaign

1946, two round trip voyages repatriating troops to Australia and one to Singapore.

1946, September 17th. returned to Belfast for refit.

1947, May returned to Mail Service.

1965, July 23rd. Last departure from Cape Town.

1965, September 13th. Arrived Kaohsiung for demolition by China Steel Corporation.

(details from Union-Castle Line by Peter Newall)

The Building and Launch - 1934/1935

Sister of the Stirling Castle (2), she was launched by the Princess Alice, wife of the Earl of Athlone, a former Governor General of South Africa,

on 28th November 1935.

Master	From	To
A Barron	5/1936	1/1938
E S Vincent	1/1938	9/1939
J C Brown	9/1939	11/1939
S F Newdigate	12/1939	1/1940
A H Blackman	1/1940	7/1940
T W MacAllen	7/1940	8/1940
A Alderson	9/1940	2/1944
R T Smailes	2/1944	9/1946
Refit
W D Roach	5/1947	7/1948
J B McReynolds	8/1948	6/1950
C C Page	6/1950	8/1959
A G Patey	8/1959	2/1961
A J Hort	3/1961	11/1961
J D Fisher	12/1961	8/1965
A J Hort	2/1964	3/1964
T R Kendra	8/1965	9/1965

Service in WW2

MCC Tour of South Africa - 1938/9 - The Timeless Test Series

Homeward bound after a series win 1 - 0 for the MCC

Signatures are W.R. Hammond (Captain), L.E.G.Ames, B.H. Valentine, W.J. Edrich, P.A. Gibb, K. Farnes, L. Hutton, R.T.D. Perks, D.V.P. Wright, H. Verity, E. Paynter, L.L. Wilkinson, T.W.J. Goddard, H.T. Bartlett and N.W.D. Yardley.

Getting Ready for War - 1939

Clansman - April 1970

Review - February 1970

On 23 September 1939 Athlone Castle was taken up for Troop Transport Services

From December 39 until January 1940 she resumed Union-Castle services and from January until July 1940 she was employed on Government Liner Services

Athlone Castle at Singapore in 1946

Port	Arrived	Sailed	Comments
Southampton		28-Sep
Freetown	11-Oct	14-Oct
Lagos	17-Oct	18-Oct
St Helena	22-Oct	22-Oct
Cape Town	28-Oct	3-Nov
Freetown	11-Nov	12-Nov
Southampton	20-Nov	01-Dec
Freetown	09-Dec	09-Dec
Cape Town	17-Dec	18-Dec
Port Elizabeth	19-Dec	19-Dec
East London	20-Dec	20-Dec
Durban	21-Dec	23-Dec
East London	24-Dec	24-Dec
Port Elizabeth	25-Dec	26-Dec
Cape Town	27-Dec	30-Dec

1939

1940

Port	Arrived	Sailed	Comments
Southampton	13-Jan	26-Jan
Dakar	01-Feb	01-Feb
Cape Town	09-Feb	10-Feb
Port Elizabeth	11-Feb	11-Feb
East London	12-Feb	12-Feb
Durban	13-Feb	15-Feb
East London	16-Feb	16-Feb
Port Elizabeth	17-Feb	17-Feb
Cape Town	19-Feb	27-Feb
Dakar	03-Mar	03-Mar
Southampton	10-Mar	21-Mar
Dakar	28-Mar	28-Mar
Ascension	31-Mar	01-Apr
St Helena	02-Apr	02-Apr
Cape Town	06-Apr	07-Apr
Port Elizabeth	08-Apr	08-Apr
East London	09-Apr	09-Apr
Durban	10-Apr	12-Apr
East London	13-Apr	13-Apr
Port Elizabeth	14-Apr	14-Apr
Mossel Bay	14-Apr	14-Apr
Cape Town	16-Apr	19-Apr
Southampton	03-May	16-May
Dakar	22-May	23-May
Ascension	26-May	26-May
St Helena	28-May	28-May
Cape Town	01-Jun	02-Jun
Port Elizabeth	03-Jun	03-Jun
East London	04-Jun	04-Jun
Durban	05-Jun	07-Jun
East London	08-Jun	09-Jun
Port Elizabeth	09-Jun	09-Jun
Cape Town	10-Jun	14-Jun
Freetown	21-Jun	21-Jun
Southampton	28-Jun	13-Jul
Gibraltar	17-Jul	26-Jul
Liverpool	01-Aug	08-Sep
Suez	22-Oct	22-Oct
Aden	06-Nov	06-Nov
Mombasa	09-Nov	09-Nov
Durban	14-Nov	17-Nov
Port Elizabeth	18-Nov	20-Nov
Table Bay	22-Nov	23-Nov
Liverpool	10-Dec

1941

Port	Arrived	Sailed	Comments
Liverpool		12-Jan
Freetown	25-Jan	29-Jan
Cape Town	09-Feb	12-Feb
Suez	03-Mar	18-Mar
Aden	22-Mar	27-Mar
Durban	04-Apr	11-May	Drydocking & voyage repairs
Port Elizabeth	12-May	16-May
Cape Town	18-May	20-May
Cristobal	07-Jun	28-Jun
Freetown	13-Jul	16-Jul
Durban	29-Jul	03-Aug
Bombay	16-Aug	18-Aug
Colombo	20-Aug	21-Aug
Malaya	25-Aug	26-Aug
Sydney	07-Sep	08-Sep
Port Lyttleton	11-Sep	23-Sep
Wellington	23-Sep	24-Sep
Cristobal	13-Oct	13-Oct
Clyde	25-Oct	09-Dec
Freetown	19-Dec	25-Dec

1942

Port	Arrived	Sailed	Comments
Durban	08-Jan	13-Jan	Voyage repairs
Bombay	26-Jan	30-Jan
Fremantle	09-Feb	12-Feb
Aukland	20-Feb	02-Mar
Balboa	19-Mar	20-Mar
Cristobal	21-Mar	21-Mar
Liverpool	05-Apr	10-May	Drydocking & voyage repairs
Freetown	22-May	26-May
Cape Town	06-Jun	11-Jun
Bombay	01-Jul	06-Jul
Colombo	09-Jul	13-Jul
Melbourne	08-Aug	10-Aug	Voyage repairs
Port Lyttleton	16-Aug	28-Aug
Balboa	12-Sep	13-Sep
Cristobal	13-Sep	13-Sep
Halifax	20-Sep	29-Sep
Liverpool	07-Oct	29-Oct	Machinery overhaul
Bahia	15-Nov	19-Nov
Durban	04-Dec	06-Dec
Bombay	17-Dec	24-Dec

1943

Port	Arrived	Sailed	Comments
Durban	05-Jan	09-Jan
New York	30-Jan	08-Feb	Drydocking
Casablanca	19-Feb	20-Feb
Gibraltar	01-Mar	08-Mar
Liverpool	15-Mar	15-Apr	Voyage repairs
Freetown	28-Apr	05-May
Cape Town	18-May	22-May
Bombay	10-Jun	22-Jun
Cape Town	06-Jul	09-Jul
New York	25-Jul	09-Aug
Liverpool	17-Aug	12-Sep	Voyage repairs & fumigation
Greenock	13-Sep	15-Sep
Algiers	23-Sep	28-Sep
New York	09-Oct	21-Oct
Liverpool	02-Nov	16-Nov	Voyage repairs
Greenock	17-Nov	19-Nov
New York	30-Nov	05-Dec
Greenock	15-Dec		Voyage repairs & repairs to windlass

1944

Port	Arrived	Sailed	Comments
Greenock		26-Jan
New York	07-Feb	11-Feb
Liverpool	22-Feb	08-Mar	Voyage repairs
New York	17-Mar	23-Mar
Liverpool	03-Apr	15-Apr	Voyage repairs
New York	25-Apr	04-May
Liverpool	14-May	28-May	General repairs to troop accommodation
New York	06-Jun	16-Jun
Liverpool	27-Jun	09-Jul
Greenock	10-Jul	25-Jul	Voyage repairs
New York	03-Aug	09-Aug
Liverpool	22-Aug	11-Sep	Drydocking & voyage repairs
Greenock	11-Sep	25-Sep
Glasgow	25-Sep	28-Sep
Greenock	28-Sep	30-Sep
Port Said	11-Oct	11-Oct
Suez	11-Oct	15-Oct
Aden	18-Oct	20-Oct
Bombay	25-Oct	02-Nov
Suez	10-Nov	14-Nov
Port Said	14-Nov	16-Nov
Algiers	21-Nov	24-Nov
Liverpool	30-Nov	05-Dec
Greenock	05-Dec	06-Dec
Liverpool	06-Dec	22-Dec	Voyage repairs
Belfast	23-Dec	24-Dec

1945

Port	Arrived	Sailed	Comments
Panama	03-Jan	06-Jan
Sydney	26-Jan	06-Feb
Wellington	09-Feb	10-Feb
New York	14-Mar	15-Mar
Ponta Delgada	23-Mar	24-Mar
Liverpool	29-Mar	02-May	Engine & troopdeck repairs & fumigation
Halifax	12-May	19-May
Liverpool	30-May	09-Jun	Voyage repairs
Algiers	13-Jun	14-Jun
Malta	16-Jun	16-Jun
Naples	17-Jun	21-Jun
Southampton	27-Jun	19-Jul	Drydocking to draw tail shaft & voyage repairs
St Helena	29-Jul	29-Jul
Cape Town	03-Aug	09-Aug
Freetown	18-Aug	19-Aug
Southampton	27-Aug	01-Oct	Drydocking & voyage repairs
Malta	08-Oct	08-Oct
Port Said	10-Oct	11-Oct
Suez	11-Oct	12-Oct
Colombo	20-Oct	25-Oct
Suez	02-Nov	03-Nov
Port Said	04-Nov	04-Nov
Southampton	11-Nov	30-Nov	Drydocking to draw tail shaft
Port Said	08-Dec	09-Dec
Bombay	17-Dec	19-Dec

1946

Port	Arrived	Sailed	Comments
Wellington	09-Jan	16-Jan
Sydney	20-Jan	23-Jan
Fremantle		29-Jan
Bombay	07-Feb	12-Feb
Suez	19-Feb	19-Feb
Port Said	19-Feb	20-Feb
Southampton	28-Feb	21-Mar	Voyage repairs & engine overhaul
Port Said	29-Mar	30-Mar
Aden	03-Apr	04-Apr
Fremantle	16-Apr	16-Apr
Melbourne	21-Apr	22-Apr
Wellington	25-Apr	08-May
Sydney	10-May	13-May
Fremantle	19-May	21-May
Singapore	27-May	28-May
Aden	07-Jun	07-Jun
Suez	10-Jun	10-Jun
Port Said	11-Jun	12-Jun
Southampton	19-Jun	14-Jul	Voyage repairs & fumigation
Port Said	23-Jul	24-Jul
Bombay	01-Aug	06-Aug
Singapore	13-Aug	16-Aug
Colombo	21-Aug	21-Aug
Suez	31-Aug	31-Aug
Port Said	31-Aug	01-Sep
Southampton	10-Sep	17-Sep
Belfast	19-Sep