The Winchester Castle was a passenger ship put into service in 1930 , which was used for the British shipping company Union-Castle Line in passenger and mail traffic between Great Britain and South Africa . She served as an auxiliary cruiser and troop transport in World War II and was decommissioned in 1969.
The ship
The 20,019 gross registered tons (GRT) motor ship Winchester Castle was built at Harland & Wolff in Belfast , Northern Ireland and was launched on November 19, 1926. The ship, 192.33 meters long and 22.86 meters wide, had a chimney, two masts and two propellers . The cost of construction was £ 1,080,493. The ship was insured for £ 924,000 (based on the monetary value at the time ). The Winchester Castle was equipped with an echo sounder and wireless direction finding equipment.
She was the sister ship of Warwick Castle (20,107 GRT), which was also launched a few months later by Harland & Wolff. Both ships were powered by two diesel engines each with 3370 hp . The top speed was 20 knots (37 km / h). On board there was space for 189 passengers in first class and 389 passengers in tourist class. The Winchester Castle was after it entered service in 1926 Carnarvon Castle (20,063 GRT) only the second motor ship of the Union-Castle Line and the second ship of the company, the 20,000 GRT brand exceeded. The Winchester Castle was registered in London and ran on October 24, 1930 in Southampton on her maiden voyage to South Africa. She headed for the ports of Port Elizabeth , Port Natal , East London and Cape Town . She kept this route until the war.
On February 16, 1936, the Winchester Castle ran aground with 341 crew members and 336 passengers on board at Blacknor Point on the west coast of the Isle of Portland . For the ship's captain, John Holman Kerbey, it would be the last voyage before his retirement. The ship handled the next tide without assistance; there were no injuries. Even so, the incident has been thoroughly investigated by the Board of Trade , chaired by Judge John Harris. The commission of inquiry came to the conclusion that inadequate course and position determinations had led to the accident. Captain Kerbey was given the major blame.
During the Second World War , the Winchester Castle, like many other ships from the Union Castle fleet, was used as an auxiliary cruiser . She took part in the Allied landing on Madagascar ( Operation Ironclad ) in May 1942 and in the invasion of French North Africa ( Operation Torch ) in November 1942. The end of the war followed for several years as an emigrant ship until she resumed her postal service to South Africa in September 1949. In 1969 the Winchester Castle was decommissioned and scrapped after 39 years of service.
