RMS Windsor Castle (1959)

"RMS Windsor Castle" was a passenger ship, and the flagship of the Union-Castle Line. She was launched June 23 1959 by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. At the time of the launch, she was the largest liner built in England and the largest liner owned by the Union-Castle Line. Her statistics were: length - 783ft, breadth - 93ft, tonnage as built - 38,000 tonnes. She had a maximum speed of 23 knots and a service speed of 19 knots.

Built by Cammell Laird in Birkenhead, her maiden voyage was from Southampton to Durban on August 18 1960 arriving 11 1/2 days later. She sailed regularly to South Africa, via Madeira occasionally, Las Palmas, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London and finally Durban. In all she made a total of 124 round voyages.

By the 1970s the days of passenger sailing were numbered. She sailed on her final voyage for the Union-Castle Line on August 12 1977. She sailed for the last time from Cape Town at 16:00 hours on September 6 1977, arriving back in Southampton on September 19 1977. She was sold to Greek shipping tycoon Yiannis Latsis and renamed Margarita L, and sailed out of Southampton for the final time on October 3 1977. After a refit she was used variously for luxury accommodation in Jeddah, office accommodation for one of Latsis' companies and later private accommodation for Latsis off Eleusis, Greece. She was offered for sale in 1998 and eventually sailed to India for the breakers on April 14, 2005, despite a galant attempt to save her through a fund and website. Her final voyage was from Piraeus, Greece to Alang, India, via Port Said, the Suez Canal and Aden. She apparently broke down off the coast and had to be towed the final few miles.

She is now totally broken up, and this once magnificant flagship is no more than a distant memory. She will be fondly remembered by passengers and crew alike for many, many years. She made a total of 124 round voyages, carried around 270,000 passengers and covered over 1.6 million miles. She never missed a scheduled sailing either. It is interesting to note that breaking of the former RMS Windsor Castle, now renamed Rita L began on August 18, 2005, exactly 45 years to the day of her maiden voyage, Southampton to Durban.

References

See an account of life on board this ship and others of the Union-Castle Line in the 1960s, at http://rgascoyne.canadianwebs.com/LifeAtSea.htm