Windsor Castle (ship, 1960)
 Launched as Margarita L before Eleusis, January 2002
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The Windsor Castle (II) was a passenger ship of the British shipping company Union-Castle Line put into service in 1960 . It was the largest unit ever built for the shipping company and was in service on scheduled services to South Africa until September 1977 . After his retirement, the steamer served until 1991 under the name Margarita L as a hotel ship and was then in Greece launched . In 2005 the Margarita L was the last existing ship of the Union-Castle Line to be scrapped in India .
history
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The Windsor Castle was built as a replacement for the aging pre-war units of the Union-Castle Line at Cammel Laird in Birkenhead, England , and launched on June 23, 1959. The ship's godmother was Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon , mother of Queen Elizabeth II.
The Windsor Castle had no sister ship , but the slightly smaller Transvaal Castle from 1961 was heavily based on the exterior of Windsor Castle . It was also scrapped in Alang in 2003.
After the ship was handed over to its owner on June 1, 1960, it ran on August 18, 1960 on its maiden voyage from Southampton to Durban . The ship remained on this route for the next 17 years until the liner service to South Africa became uneconomical. The Windsor Castle was therefore taken out of service in Southampton on 19 September 1977 after a last crossing and sold to the Greek shipowner Giannis Latsis , who renamed her Margarita L.
The Margarita L arrived in Piraeus on October 9, 1977 , where she received renovation work for future use as a hotel ship. On January 11, 1979, she was towed to Jeddah and used there as a floating hotel. In 1984 Margarita L became the property of the Santa Marianna Shipping & Trading Corporation based in Panama . However, the ship remained in Jeddah until it was laid up in Eleusis on June 4, 1991 .
The Margarita L remained in Eleusis for thirteen years until it was sold to India for scrapping on December 14, 2004 and renamed Rita . After another four months berth in Eleusis, the ship was towed to Alang, India , on April 14, 2005 , where it arrived on July 21, 2005.
The dismantling of the former Windsor Castle began exactly 45 years to the day after its commissioning on August 18, 2005. At that time it was the last existing ship of the Union-Castle Line.
literature
- William H. Miller: Union Castle Liners: From Great Britain to Africa 1946-1977 . Amberley Publishing Limited, Stroud 2013. ISBN 978-1-4456-2430-3 .
