RMS Kildonan Castle

The RMS Kildonan Castle was a Royal Mail Ship and passenger liner that went into service with Castle Line, and its successor, the Union-Castle Line. She was built to run the mail route from Southampton, England to Cape Town, South Africa starting in 1900. However, she began her life early, in December 1899, being requisitioned by the government to carry 3,000 troops to Cape Town at the start of the Boer War, and was temporarily used in South Africa to house POW's. She returned to England in 1901 for an outfitting to carry passengers and mail. She was one of nine ships on the England-South Africa run.[1] At the outbreak of World War I, she replenished the South African Army with arms and ammunition. She also served as a hospital ship during the Dardanelles Campaign, outfitted with 603 beds, and converted in March 1916 to an armed merchant cruiser. In January 1917, she took Lord Milner and 51 VIP delegates from England, France and Italy to Murmansk, Russia, on the Petrograd Mission.[2][3][4][5] She then undertook convoy duties in the North Atlantic, returning to her normal South African mail run after the war.

See also: Union-Castle Line

RMS Kildonan Castle
History
United Kingdom
NameKildonan Castle
Owner Union-Castle Line
BuilderFairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited, Glasgow
Yard number408
Launched22 August 1899
Completed1899
CommissionedDecember 1899
Decommissioned1931
RenamedH. M. Transport 44 / Pennant MI 74
FateBroken up 18 May 1931
NotesRequisitioned in two wars
General characteristics
Tonnage
Length515 ft. 3 in.
Beam59 ft 2 in (18.03 m)
Depth34.7 ft.
Installed power1,663 nhp
Propulsion
  • As built:
  • Steel Screw Steamer
  • 2 Stroke Double Acting engine
  • 2 × Steam 4 cylinder (28, 39.75, 57.5, 82 x 60in), 2-Screw
Speed
  • Cruising: 17 kn (31 km/h; 20 mph)
  • Max: 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Capacity
  • As built:
  • unk. first class passengers
  • unk. second class passengers
  • unk. third class passengers
Armament
  • As armed merchant cruiser
  • 8 × 4.7-inch guns (later 8 6-inch guns)

During the Roaring 20's, the Kildonan Castle was one of 38 ships in the Union-Castle Line fleet.[6] She was retired in 1930.

Footnotes
  1. Hodson, Norman, "The Race to The Cape", pg. 29
  2. Hochschild, Adam, "To End All Wars", pg. 254
  3. Wrench, pg. 322
  4. Marlowe. pg. 262
  5. Lloyd George, Vol III, pgs.452-473
  6. Hodson, pgs. 41-43

References
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