Guildford Castle (ship)

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Guildford Castle
The identical sister ship Gloucester Castle
The identical sister ship Gloucester Castle
Ship data
flag United KingdomUnited Kingdom (trade flag) United Kingdom
Ship type Passenger ship
home port London
Shipping company Union-Castle Line
Shipyard Barclay, Curle and Company , Glasgow
Build number 488
Launch August 11, 1911
Whereabouts Stranded May 31, 1933
Ship dimensions and crew
length
137.8 m ( Lüa )
width 17.09 m
measurement 8,036 GRT
Machine system
machine Quadruple expansion steam engines
Top
speed
13 kn (24 km / h)
propeller 2
Transport capacities
Permitted number of passengers I. class: 87
II. Class: 130
III. Class: 195
Others
Registration
numbers
Register number: 132611

The Guildford Castle was a passenger steamer put into service in 1911, which was used by the British shipping company Union-Castle Line in passenger and mail traffic between Great Britain and South Africa . After the collision with another ship on the Elbe near Cuxhaven on May 31, 1933, the Guildford Castle stranded and was declared a total loss.

history

The 8,036 GRT steamship Guildford Castle was built at the Barclay, Curle and Company shipyard in Glasgow (Scotland). The ship, 137.8 meters long and 17.09 meters wide, was launched on August 11, 1911. The Guildford Castle was one of the last ships delivered to the Union-Castle Line before the shipping company was incorporated into the Empire of the Royal Mail Line in 1912 . The twin-screw steamer had a chimney, two masts and was equipped with quadruple expansion steam engines that allowed a top speed of 13 knots. A total of 87 passengers in the first, 130 in the second and 195 in the third class could be accommodated.

The Guildford Castle had two sister ships, which were also put into service in 1911 and built for express service in passenger and mail traffic to South Africa ( London-South and East Africa Intermediate Service ). These were the Gloucester Castle (7,999 GRT) built by Fairfield Shipbuilders , which was sunk in the southern Atlantic by a German auxiliary cruiser in 1942, and the Galway Castle (7,988 GRT) built by Harland & Wolff , which was sunk in the English Channel by a German submarine in 1918 has been.

In October 1911, the Guildford Castle was completed and handed over to its owners. In the following three years she served in regular passenger and mail traffic from England to Table Bay . After the outbreak of war in 1914 it was initially used as a troop transport , but was later used as a hospital ship with 427 beds. On March 10, 1918, the ship was hit by a torpedo when entering Avonmouth , but it did not explode. In November 1918, the Guildford Castle was released from military service and returned to the Union-Castle Line.

After the war, the Guildford Castle was initially used again in the express service to South Africa, but later used, among other things, together with the Gloucester Castle for the Round Africa service, with two ships of the Union-Castle Line from London through the Suez Canal and over the Cape of Good Hope and two other ships headed in opposite directions. On May 30, 1933, the Guildford Castle on the Elbe collided with the steamer Stentor of the Blue Funnel Line at the shallows of Osteriff, where the Oste flows into the Elbe . Two people were killed. The Guildford Castle was set aground the following day and declared a total loss by the shipping company. A mistake by the pilot was found to be the cause of the accident .

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