RMS Windsor Castle - Union Castle's Last Ship
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In the mid 1950s, commercial jet airliner service was still a few years away, so, although mass airline travel was clearly on the horizon for those who bothered to look for it, traditional shipping companies were still busy building new ocean liners – perhaps in a bit of willful denial of the impending change.
One such company was Union Castle Line, one of Britain's most storied and prestigious shipping firms, with roots dating well back into the 19th century. Union Castle linked Britain with Africa in general and South Africa in particular. Although mass decolonization was also on the horizon, the expectation was that most African colonies would remain within the Commonwealth after independence (which turned out to be correct) and that, therefore, passenger and cargo traffic with the UK would remain high (which turned out to be more of a mixed bag).
In 1956, Union Castle placed an order with Cammell Laird & Co. Ltd. in Birkenhead, England for what would become the largest and most luxurious ship ever placed in African service, and, briefly, the largest passenger ship ever built in England (prior larger British liners having been built in either Scotland or Northern Ireland). Construction began in January, 1957, and, on June 23rd, 1959, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother christened the new ship Windsor Castle.
As built, Windsor Castle measured 37,640 gross tons and 783.5 feet long, with accommodations for just 782 passengers (191 First Class, 591 Tourist Class) in generously spacious surroundings, served by a crew of 475. Cargo space was ample, including extensive refrigerated holds. Propulsion was by Pametrada geared steam turbines, developing 49,000 hp and driving twin screws, for a top speed of 23.5 knots, 22.5 cruising, enough to do the Southampton-Durban run in 13 ½ days one way.
Unusually for 1960s ocean liners, but not terribly unexpected for a conservative company like Union Castle, Windsor Castle's interiors displayed very little in the way of Mid Century Modern influences, being decorated in a more traditional English country house style. This was intentional, as, given the length of time passengers would be spending on board, Union Castle wanted the ship to feel warm, comfortable, and homelike, as opposed to intimidatingly fashionable.
Windsor Castle began her maiden voyage from Southampton to Durban via Madeira, Las Palmas, Capetown, Port Elizabeth, and East London on August 18th 1960, and would work that route, fairly uneventfully, for the next 17 years.
During the 1960s, the South African government became increasingly hostile to the idea of a British company dominating passenger service to/from their country, and, in 1965, Union Castle was obligated to form a new joint venture with the state-controlled South African Marine Corporation called Union Castle Safmarine. Two smaller Union Castle liners were transferred to Safmarine ownership and hoisted the South African flag as part of the new venture, while Windsor Castle remained under Union Castle control.
As part of the restructuring, two slower diesel liners were retired, and Windsor Castle's speed was finally used to full advantage, shortening the one way voyage by two full days, to 11 ½.
By the early 1970s, airline competition had finally caught up on the South African route, while modern container ships were siphoning off more and more cargo business. At the same time, Union Castle was facing high operating costs due to their all-British crews, plus declining travel demand in general, due to increasing awareness of, and hostility toward, the South African government's Apartheid policies. High fuel costs during and after the 1973 OAPEC oil embargo didn't help matters. Eventually, Union Castle and Safmarine jointly agreed to terminate passenger services and focus on their cargo operations.
Windsor Castle made the last passenger sailing for the line, being decommissioned upon her return to Southampton at the end of her 124th and final round trip on September 19, 1977. The fact that the ship was barely middle aged and still in excellent condition was no guarantee of future use, as many such liners were being scrapped en masse at the time, however, Windsor Castle wound up an unusual exception.
London-based Greek business tycoon Yiannis (John) S. Latsis (a close friend of the Royal Family, particularly Prince Charles) purchased the ship from Union Castle, renamed her Margarita L. after his daughter, and sent her to Piraeus, Greece in October of 1977 for a full refurbishment. Afterward, the now Panamanian-flagged Margarita L. was docked in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to serve as an accommodation and recreation center for employees of the Petrola oil terminal, one of Latsis' many business ventures. Margarita L. was overhauled again at a shipyard in Bahrain during 1983, and returned to stationary use in Jeddah until 1991, when she sailed to Piraeus for lay-up.
Despite having no further commercial use for her, Yiannis Latsis had a personal affection for the ship and insisted on keeping her maintained in perfect, ready-to-sail condition at all times. One of the largest First Class suites was kept set up for Mr. Latis for use as his personal accommodations during his visits to the area, and the Latsis companies frequently used the ship for conferences and board meetings.
By the early 2000s, Margarita L. remained in excellent condition, with her original interiors almost entirely intact, with Latsis having had her three boilers retubed during 1998, despite having no plans to actually sail the ship. However, her future came into doubt following Mr. Latsis' death in 2003 at the age of 92.
The Latsis family immediately put the liner up for sale. Despite some efforts by nonprofit groups to bring her back to Southampton as a hotel ship, Margarita L. was sold to a scrapyard in Alang, India in December of 2004. Now renamed Rita, she left port under her own power in April of 2005. En route, her new owners had her turn around and anchor off the United Arab Emirates, while waiting for scrap metal prices to recover from a recent downturn. Rita was eventually beached for demolition on July 20th, 2005, with scrapping officially beginning on August 18th – the 45th anniversary of her maiden voyage.
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Great article, thanks. My wife keeps making noise about wanting to go on a cruise, but the idea of sailing around in one of those modern behemoths with thousands of other people just sounds miserable to me. This, on the other hand, looks like it would be a wonderful trip.
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@ttyymmnn said in RMS Windsor Castle - Union Castle's Last Ship:
but the idea of sailing around in one of those modern behemoths with thousands of other people just sounds miserable to me
I've not been on a cruise but the idea of such a manufactured corporate experience on a ship with thousands of other people doing the exact same thing just doesn't appeal to me as much. The whole idea is bang for your buck but I don't exactly see the appeal.
Also, it's a real shame the ship mentioned wasn't repurposed. Very few ships its age would have been in such good condition. You'd think something its size and condition would have another use.
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@ranwhenparked What a sad end for a well kept turnkey piece of history. Great read!
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@ttyymmnn said in RMS Windsor Castle - Union Castle's Last Ship:
Great article, thanks. My wife keeps making noise about wanting to go on a cruise, but the idea of sailing around in one of those modern behemoths with thousands of other people just sounds miserable to me. This, on the other hand, looks like it would be a wonderful trip.
I've done exactly one cruise in my life and it was, indeed, miserable. As an introvert it was vacation hell. Like being trapped on a floating hotel with 100's of people I don't know and never want to know. And no escape. Never again.
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@ttyymmnn Maybe check out a smaller cruise line, something like AdventureSmith Expeditions
https://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/ (they have a kind of cool replica of an 1890s Alaskan gold rush steamer, Wilderness Legacy).or American Cruise Lines
https://www.americancruiselines.comAnd UnCruise Adventures, which does expedition cruises geared to people who hate cruises
https://uncruise.com/Victory Cruise Lines has a couple very small ships modeled after preWWI coastal steamers
https://www.victorycruiselines.com/There's always river cruises, too.
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Our family has done Disneyland and Universal, but the trips we have mostly taken are epic road trips in the van. We've road tripped from TX to CA including the Grand Canyon, to South Dakota, to Chicago, and driven numerous times to the East Coast to visit family. Those drives are usually about 3,500 miles and take about three weeks. That's my idea of a vacation, but I know everybody likes different things.
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Those look nice, particularly Victory. Thanks!
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@ttyymmnn Personally, I can't stand the modern megaships, they're floating versions of those faux town center outdoor shopping malls with apartments above the upscale chain stores. Spending a week in a mall with 4,000 drunk strangers, getting nickle and dimed for everything isn't really a vacation.
Unfortunately, this pandemic has been pretty hard on the already tough economies of scale of midsized and smaller ships, which are the ones that have been going for scrap. When we get to the other end of it, you'll have a choice of 100,000+ ton tower blocks, or a handful of small, yacht-like adventure/expedition lines, and nothing in the middle.
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@ranwhenparked I don't often comment on these, but I really enjoy them, thanks!
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@ranwhenparked said in RMS Windsor Castle - Union Castle's Last Ship:
cruises geared to people who hate cruises
I can't tell if this is a genius business model or a profoundly terrible one.
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@whoistheleader I don't know, but I know my dad loathed the cruises my mom dragged him on, but he's shown decent interest in one of their Alaskan itineraries, so, maybe it works?
They're also one of the first to restart during COVID, having some US-flagged vessels, they can do Washington-Alaska without having to stop in still-closed Canada.
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@ranwhenparked @ttyymmnn I can see the attraction of the big cruise ships if you're old and infirm: you get to have a once-over-lightly of some new things and places without needing to deal with the hassle of moving around or to go outside your comfort zone (increasingly important as you get older and less mentally flexible). However until they fit me out with my Zimmer frame, it's my idea of hell.
I've been on one cruise in my life, and that was a 35-passenger Russian ex research vessel cruising Antarctica. Which was one of the great experiences of my life, but not at all due to the "cruise" part of it. Having said that, the onboard bit wasn't bad - like-minded punters, few enough that you could actually get to know them over 10 days, and travelling on a small but extremely seaworthy ship over a very bumpy piece of ocean is fun (if you don't suffer from seasickness).
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@ranwhenparked said in RMS Windsor Castle - Union Castle's Last Ship:
some US-flagged vessels
That's actually impressive right there. And you won't even have to mingle with the Canadians if you do it right now
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@ttyymmnn said in RMS Windsor Castle - Union Castle's Last Ship:
but the idea of sailing around in one of those modern behemoths with thousands of other people just sounds miserable to me. This, on the other hand, looks like it would be a wonderful trip.
Pre-pandemic I might have disagreed some, now I dunno. In a previous life I took a few and enjoyed them (10+ years ago) - always Royal Caribbean as they were less drunken party boat and more excursion or cruiser people boats, also they'd run faster than the others so you had longer in port. Also out of FL not Galveston - used to be better boats and better ports. Balcony room, always on shore if possible or if at sea on the back deck where it's quiet or the balcony. Sunsets or sunrise w/breakfast on the balcony ain't bad. So it's not all horrible - even as an introvert, also not cheap either. But a good way to see places you'd not go purposely to on your own. Treatment of the workers is something I'm more aware of now though, which is a concern. The wife doesn't like the thought of cruises in general but does like the idea of doing a Med or a European river cruise - which in particular might be fun with a smaller boats.
Spend enough time on workboats in the GoM in four man cabins eating greasy food and drinking burned coffee working crazy hours and none of it is appealing anymore anyways lol.
