| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | RMS Pendennis Castle |
| Operator: | Union Castle Line |
| Port of registry: | London, United Kingdom (1959-1976) Various (1976-1980) |
| Route: | Southampton, UK to South Africa |
| Builder: | Harland and Wolff, Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Launched: | 24 December 1957 |
| Christened: | 24 December 1957 |
| Maiden voyage: | 1 January 1959 |
| Out of service: | 14 June 1976 |
| Identification: | IMO 5273808 |
| Fate: | Scrapped, 1980, in Kaohsiung, Taiwan |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Ocean liner |
| Tonnage: | 28,582 GRT |
| Length: | 764 ft (233 m) |
| Beam: | 83.6 ft (25.5 m) |
| Installed power: | Geared steam turbines driving twin screws developing 46,000 shaft horsepower. |
| Propulsion: | Twin screw |
| Speed: | 22.5 knots (41.7 km/h; 25.9 mph) |
| Capacity: | 182 First Class, 493 Tourist Class |
RMS Pendennis Castle was passenger and cargo ocean liner built for the Union-Castle Line. The vessel served 1959-1976 on a regular route between the UK and South Africa for the Southampton to Las Palmas, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban "Cape Mail" service. She later sailed under the names Ocean Queen, Sinbad, and Sinbad I after her sale from Union-Castle.
Contents |
In 1953 Sir George Christopher assumed leadership of Union-Castle. That year an order was placed with the company's regular shipbuilders, Harland and Wolff, for a ship to replace the ageing 1921-built RMS Arundel Castle. In 1956 Union-Castle Line was taken over by the British & Commonwealth Shipping Company. The design for Pendennis Castle was altered to improve and enlarge her.[1] The ship was fitted with Denny-Brown stabilizers, which necessitated lengthening the ship amidships after construction had already commenced on the slipway. Her overall length was increased from 748 ft to 764 ft.
By December 1957 the Pendennis Castle was ready to be launched. However due to a shipyard strike, the original launching ceremony was cancelled. Eventually on 24 December 1957 the Pendennis Castle was launched without ceremony. On 14 November 1958, following successful sea trials, the Pendennis Castle was handed over to Union-Castle by her builders.
RMS Pendennis Castle set sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton on Thursday, 1 January 1959 bound for Cape Town commanded by Commodore George Mayhew of the Union-Castle fleet. The shipping press voted Pendennis Castle as the "ship of the year". The vessel would also become famous as the first British ocean liner to have female waiting staff in the dining room, known as “stewardettes”.
In 1964 air conditioning on board the Pendennis Castle was extended to include all the first class cabins. In addition, a further 21 cabins had showers fitted.[1] In July 1965 a new faster mail service was introduced with the voyage time reduced from 14 to 11 days. This meant that the new schedule could be operated by seven liners rather than eight.
In May 1968 a fire broke out on board while the ship was berthed in Southampton, which damaged some of the accommodation. However the vessel managed to sail with Harland & Wolff workers on board repairing the damage. In 1969 she broke the Union-Castle record for the fastest passage between Cape Town and Southampton.
In 1973 due to increasing oil prices, Union-Castle decided to slow the service by one day and increase fares. However by 1976 the end was coming for the Union-Castle mail ships with the rise of containerization and air travel. The vessel departed Southampton for the final time bound for South Africa on 23 April 1976. Pendennis Castle was retired from service after her final arrival in Southampton on 14 June 1976 from South Africa, flying her paying off pennant.
Pendennis Castle was sold to the Ocean Queen Navigation Company and was renamed Ocean Queen.[2] She set sail for an intended new service life as a cruise ship in Hong Kong with a white hull and golden brown funnel. This never came about. In 1978 the ship was sold again to Kinvarra Bay Shipping of Liberia and renamed Sinbad I but remained laid up. Finally in April 1980, after being laid up since leaving Union-Castle, the ship departed Hong Kong for the final time, bound for scrapping in Kaoshiung, Taiwan.