Kildonan Castle (Union Castle)

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shipstamps
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Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 8:12 pm

Kildonan Castle (Union Castle)

Post by shipstamps » Sun Jun 22, 2008 11:32 am

Kildonan Castle, the sister ship of Kinfauns Castle, was the last ship built for the Castle Line. She was built by the Fairfield Ship Building and Eng Co., and was launched on the 22nd August 1899.
She was immediately requisitioned as a troop transport for the Boer War. She carried 20,429 troops from the 5th October 1899 to the 23rd May 1901.
In 1915 she was requisitioned by the Admiralty for service in the First World War and from the 6th October 1915 to the 10th March 1916, she served as a hospital ship. She spent the rest of the war as an armed merchant cruiser and it was not until the 31st December 1921 that she was returned to the Union castle Line.
She remained on the mail route for another five years and then she became a reserve ship.
On 18th may 1930 she arrived at Stavanger for breaking-up.
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AndyS
Posts: 31
Joined: Wed Jul 14, 2010 7:17 pm

Re: Kildonan Castle (Union Castle)

Post by AndyS » Fri Jun 24, 2011 10:41 am

This information from: "clydesite.co.uk"

ss KILDONAN CASTLE built by Fairfield Govan, Yard No 408
________________________________________
Last Name: KILDONAN CASTLE
Previous Names: H. M. Transport 44
Port of Registry: London
Propulsion: Steam, Twin Screw, 2 x Quadruple Expansion, 1663 NHP. 17 knots.
Launched: Tuesday, 22/08/1899 Built: 1899
Ship Type: Passenger Cargo Vessel
Tonnage: 9652 grt Length: 533 feet Breadth: 59.2 feet
Owner History: Castle Mail Packets Company.
1900 Union-Castle Mail SS Co.
1916-1919 Admiralty as AMC
Status: Arrived for Scrapping - 18/05/1931
Remarks: O.N. 112615. Completed October 1899.
Began life as H. M. Transport 44 in the Boer War, returning to Fairfield's to be completed and began her first commercial sailing 7th December that year.

Commissioned as a hospital ship on 6th October 1915, but in March 1916 she was decommissioned and converted to an Armed Merchant Cruiser joining the Glasgow based 10th Cruiser Squadron on 21st August 1916.

December 1918 saw her relinquish her role as an AMC and she took up the task of repatriating troops. She took 1800 Yugoslavian refugees from Vladivostok to Gravosa in March 1920 and at last was refurbished and put on the mail run.

She was laid up in 1926 and put in reserve. Finally sold in 1931 and broken up at Stavanger.

Andy Shand

Ref: "Shipping Times" @ "http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/v ... asp?id=769"

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