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Arundel Castle was built for the
British based Union Castle Line to be
operated on the Southampton - Cape Town
route. This ship should have been
completed in 1916 under the name
Amroth Castle. With the outcome of
World War One not being settled until
November 1918 and a shortage of materials
in the following years, the Union Castle
Line had to wait until 1921 for the
delivery of their ship. By that time,
they had taken the decision to rename her
Arundel Castle. This was the
largest ship built for the South Africa
run so far. In an attempt to match the
larger ships on the Atlantic run, Union
Castle had her designed with four
funnels. Although, with the delay in her
building, ships with four funnels had
become outdated by the time she entered
service. Arundel Castle set out on
her maiden voyage from Southampton - Cape
Town April 22nd 1921. As that route took
her through the warm West African
climate, she was one of the first liners
to be fitted with air conditioning and a
pool.
Arundel Castle was returned to
Harland & Wolff in 1937 to be
modernized. This work involved removing
two of her four funnels, converting her
boilers from coal to oil burning and
reshaping her bow into a more modern
sweeping design. Arundel Castle
was returned to the Southampton - Cape
Town run a few months later 25 feet
longer and with an increased service
speed of 20 knots. The British Admiralty
requisitioned Arundel Castle to
serve as a troopship in 1939. After
surviving the Second World War unscathed
and taking part in the return of British
servicemen, she was converted back to a
passenger liner to provide a service for
emigrants traveling to South Africa. The
end of that role in 1949 led to
Arundel Castle being returned to
her usual service between Southampton and
Cape Town. She completed 211 voyages on
that route before being laid up at
Southampton in December 1958. Arundel
Castle’s final voyage to the
scrap yard at Kowloon/Japan followed soon
after.
Arundel Castle after being
modernized
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