The Union-Castle Line was a prominent shipping line that operated a fleet of passenger liners and freighters between Europe and Africa from 1900 to 1977.
The company originated as Union-Castle Mail Steamship Co, Ltd on 8 March 1900 with the merger of Union Line and Castle Shipping Line; Castle Shipping Line took over the fleet.
Union-Castle named most of their ships with the suffix "Castle" in their names. They were well known for the lavender hulled liners with black and red funnels, running on a rigid timetable between Southampton and Cape Town. Every Thursday at 4pm a Union-Castle Royal Mail Ship would leave Southampton bound for Cape Town. At the same time, a Union-Castle Royal Mail Ship would leave Cape Town bound for Southampton.
1912 Acquired by Owen Cosby Philipps through his Royal Mail Steam Packet Co and Elder Dempster; continued trading under its own name.
In December 1999, the Union-Castle name was revived for a millennium cruise; the P and O ship Victoria was chartered for a 60-day cruise around Africa, and had its funnel repainted for the occasion.
See Tantallon Castle (1894–1901).
See Also
Sources of Information
- [1] Wikipedia