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Union-Castle Mail SS Co. Ltd

House flag
Union-Castle liners inEast India Docks, London in 1902
Trade name	Union-Castle Line
Industry	Shipping
Predecessors	Union Line Castle Mail Packet Co.
Founded	8 March 1900 (1900-03-08) inUnited Kingdom
Defunct	1990 (1990)
Successor	British and Commonwealth Shipping
Headquarters	United Kingdom
Area served	London andSouthampton toCape Town
Key people	Donald Currie Sir Francis Vernon Thompson
Services	Passenger, cargo and mail transport

TheUnion-Castle Line was a Britishshipping line that operated a fleet ofpassenger liners andcargo ships between Europe and Africa from 1900 to 1977. It was formed from the merger of theUnion Line andCastle Shipping Line.

It merged withBullard King andClan Line in 1956 to formBritish & Commonwealth Shipping, and then withSouth African Marine Corporation (commonly referred to asSafmarine) in 1973 to createInternational Liner Services, but maintained its separate identity throughout. Its shipping operations ceased in 1977.

The Union Line was founded in 1853 as theSouthampton Steam Shipping Company to transport coal fromSouth Wales toSouthampton. 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 theCape Colony. The inaugural sailing ofDane left Southampton on 15 September.^[1]

Meanwhile,Donald Currie had built up theCastle Packet Co. which traded toCalcutta round theCape of Good Hope. This trade was substantially curtailed by the opening of theSuez Canal in 1869, and the Castle Line started to run to South Africa instead, later becoming theCastle Mail Packet Company.

In 1872 the Cape Colony gainedresponsible government and its first Prime Minister,John Molteno, 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 theBoer War. Finally, on 8 March 1900, the Union Line and Castle Shipping Line merged, creating theUnion-Castle Mail Steamship Company, Ltd, with Castle Shipping Line taking over the fleet.^[2][3][4]

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 becameGlenart Castle) but others (such asGaleka) retained their original name. They were well known for the lavender-hulled liners with red funnels topped in black, running on a rigid timetable betweenSouthampton andCape Town. Every Thursday at 4pm a Union-CastleRoyal 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. In 1922 the line introduced its Round Africa service, a nine-week voyage calling at twenty ports en route. Alternate sailings travelled out via theSuez Canal and out via West Africa.^[1]

The combined line was sold to theRoyal Mail Line in 1911, but continued to operate as Union-Castle. Many of the line's vessels were requisitioned for service astroop ships orhospital ships in the First World War, and eight were sunk by mines or GermanU-boats. The Royal Mail Line ran into financial difficulties in the 1930s, culminating in the prosecution of its directorLord Kylsant, and Union-Castle Line became an independent company again withVernon Thomson as Managing Director. Many vessels were again requisitioned in the Second World War. Three –Dunnottar Castle,Carnarvon Castle,Dunvegan Castle becamearmed merchant cruisers.Pretoria Castle (1939) was also first requisitioned as an armed merchant cruiser, but later served as anescort carrier.^[6]

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 ofRoxburgh Castle from Southampton on 2 January 1947.^[1]

The company took over theKing Line in 1949, and merged withBullard King andClan Line in 1956 to formBritish & Commonwealth Shipping. It merged withSouth African Marine Corporation in 1973 to create International Liner Services, but competition with air travel adversely affected its shipping activities, and cargo shipping rapidly becamecontainerised. 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 acquiredAtlantic Computers 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 toBeira and back via the West Coast route every three months.^[1]

In December 1999 the Union-Castle name was revived for amillennium cruise; theP&O shipVictoria 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 formerKenya Castle in 2001, the formerTransvaal Castle in 2003, the formerDunnottar Castle in 2004, and finallyWindsor Castle in 2005.

The initial Union fleet consisted of the colliersUnion,Briton,Saxon,Norman andDane. In 1860 this was augmented by the much largerCambrian.^[1]

At the time of the merger in 1900, the Union fleet included:

Arab (1879–1900),Briton (1897–1926),Falcon (1896–1942),Gaika (1896–1926),Galeka (1899–1916),Galician (1900-1918),Gascon (1897–1928),Gaul (1893–1906),German (2) (1898–1930),Goorkka (1897-1926),Goth (1893–1913),Greek (1893–1906),Guelph (1894–1913),Mexican (1883–1900),Moor (1881-1901),Norman (2) (1894–1926),Sabine (1895–1921),Saxon (1900–1935),Scot (1891–1905),Spartan (1881–1900),Susquehanna (1896–1926), andTrojan (1880–1900), withCelt on order (renamedWalmer Castle before it came into service)

and the Castle Line fleet included:

Arundel Castle (3) (1894–1905),Avondale Castle (1897–1912),Braemar Castle (1) (1898–1924),Carisbrook Castle (1898–1922),Doune Castle (1890–1904),Dunolly Castle (1897–1905),Dunottar Castle (1890–1913),Dunvegan Castle (1896–1923),Garth Castle (1880–1901),Harlech Castle (1894–1904),Hawarden Castle (1883–1904),Kildonan Castle (1899–1931),Kinfauns Castle (2) (1899–1927),Lismore Castle (1891–1904),RMS Norham Castle (1883–1903),Pembroke Castle (2) (1883–1906),Raglan Castle (1897–1905),Roslin Castle (2) (1883–1904),Tantallon Castle (2) (1894–1901),Tintagel Castle (1) (1896–1912)^[8]

• Swiggum, Sue; Kohli, Marjorie."Union-Castle Mail S.S. Company".The Ships List.
• "The British & Commonwealth Shipping Company Limited, The Companies, The Ships & The People".
• Collection of Passenger Lists of the Union-Castle Line GG Archives
• Union-Castle Line History and Ephemera GG Archives

• 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

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