The Kenilworth Castle (II) was put into service in 1904 and was used by the British shipping company Union-Castle Line in passenger and mail traffic between Great Britain and South Africa . It served as a troop transport during World War I and was scrapped in northern England in 1937.
The ship
The 12,974 GRT steamship Kenilworth Castle was built at Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast , Northern Ireland . Her identical sister ship was the Armadale Castle (12,973 GRT), which was built at the same time by Fairfield Shipbuilders in Govan and put into service at the end of 1903. These two ships were the first new orders after the shipping companies Union Steamship Company Ltd. ( Union Line , founded 1857) and Castle Mail Packet Company Ltd. ( Castle Line , founded 1862) and formed the new Union-Castle Line. Up until then they were the largest ships of the two original shipping companies.
The 173.8 meter long and 19.7 meter wide Kenilworth Castle had two chimneys, two masts and two propellers . She was powered by two quadruple expansion steam engines that developed 12,000 PSi and allowed a top speed of 17 knots. It was launched at Harland & Wolff on December 5, 1903 and was completed on May 14, 1904. The ship then went on its maiden voyage and on the passenger and postal service of the Union-Castle Line between Southampton and Cape Town .
During the First World War , the Kenilworth Castle served as a troop transport . On June 4, 1918, she was together with the Durham Castle in a convoy from South Africa to England, which was accompanied by five destroyers . When the Kenilworth Castle tried to avoid the seemingly advancing HMS Kent in front of the Eddystone lighthouse , she collided with the HMS Rival . Depth charges that on board the Rival were stowed, slipped overboard and exploded under the rear of Kenilworth Castle . 15 crew members of the ship were killed and the ship itself was badly damaged.
After the end of the war, the Kenilworth Castle returned to civilian passenger traffic. She was scrapped in Blyth in 1937 by the Hughes Bolckow Shipbreaking Company.
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