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Union Castle at War An Article taken from the Union Castle Line's "Seafari"
(1975 edition) on board courtesy magazine
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THE HOMEPAGE
RMS WINDSOR CASTLE 1960
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In two World Wars the Union-Castle Line has played a prominent part in the history of this country when it was fighting for its survival. In a short article it is not possible to relate the story of both wars and in the following pages there is an account of something of the contribution the company made in World War II to the war effort of the British people. In the first world war it was only in the later stages there came a menace of the U-boat - and how serious a menace it proved. In World War II this menace was there from the start, already developed to a high degree. Then, in addition, and allied to the U-boat was the dive bomber. Surface raiders, too, took their toll in seas far distant from their home base. There were few voyages which could be taken free from danger. The merchant seaman, whose every task was of the greatest importance to the country, knew, whenever he sailed, his life was at risk and truly he could say wherever he went he was in the forefront of the battle. In 1939, even before war broke out, the Admiralty began to requisition Union-Castle ships. The first to be taken over was the 13,000 ton Edinburgh Castle which at that time was held in reserve by the company to meet unexpected needs. Next it ws the turn of the Dunnottar Castle, loading in the London Docks for a voyage to South Africa. Within a short time she was on her way to Belfast, her passengers and cargo diverted to other ships. At Belfast work was carried out to convert her to an armed merchant cruiser. In South African waters Dunvegan Castle, sister ship to the Dunnottar Castle, was at East Londno on a voyage to England via the East African coast and the Suez Canal. She was about to sail for Durban when a cablegram arrived for the captain. This was a pre-emptory message from the Admiralty requiring him to return with all dispatch to Britain. Passengers and baggage were at once put ashore and the ship turned around and headed for Table Bay. In those days of emergency the requirements of the passenger had to give way to the national needs. On board the Dunvegan Castle was the cargo she had loaded for East African ports. This was now discharged and she took on board a heavy load for Britain. Hurriedly she was painted grey from waterline to masthead. The Pretoria Castle, which lay in an adjoining berth was similarly painted. Dunvegan Castle then left for England and after the discharge of her cargo she went to Belfast, to emerge later as an armed merchant cruiser. Pretoria Castle followed her shortly afterwards and was similarly converted. One further ship was taken over by the Admiralty. The mailship Carnarvon Castle had arrived in Cape Town from Britain in the second week of September. Her passengers were told they could proceed no further. Her cargo was discharged; furniture from her public rooms and cabins was landed on the dockside. The ship was handed over to the Royal Navy and at H.M. Dockyard at Simonstown she too was converted into a fighting ship, with a main armament of eight six-inch guns. As the war progressed experience showed that the use of merchantmen on convoy duties as armed merchant cruisers was neither the most efficient nor the most economical use of valuable ships. They presented highly vulnerable targets to the enemy, while at a time when passenger carrying space was in desperate need, that accommodation which they had was not being used. In the early days of the war these armed merchant cruisers met an urgent need when there were no other ships available to carry out their duties, but as new types of naval craft were developed, they took over from the merchant ships. Dunvegan Castle had already been lost, torpedoed and sunk off the west coast of Ireland, but Dunnottar Castle was released by the Admiralty and became available for her more natural role of trooping. Pretoria Castle was not handed back but was purchased by the Navy and once again returned to the shipyards. When in July 1943 she emerged she revealed nothing of her former self. She had been converted into an auxiliary aircraft carrier. The Edinburgh Castle had been sent to Sierra Leone as a depot ship and there she stayed throughout the war. The one remaining ship in Admiralty service was the Carnarvon Castle and she continued until December 1943. Early in her career as a naval vessel, in 1940, she had distinguished herself in an engagement with a German raider Thor. These raiders were a thorn in the side of the Allies, for they operated alone, far from their base, in unexpected waters. Thor had already claimed several victims in the South Atlantic. On December 5 she was sighted early in the morning by Carnarvon Castle some 700 miles NE of Montevideo. The engagement began at a range of about 17,500 yards. The Thor turned 90 degrees to bring her full starboard battery to bear on Carnarvon Castle, while the Carnarvon Castle returned fire with her full broadside. Within the first few minutes both ships were hit. On board the the electrical control gear was shot away and for the remainder of the engagement the guns had to be fired independently by hand control. The Carnarvon Castle was rapdily closing range when the tracks of two torpedoes fired by the raider were seen from the bridge. One passed very close to the bows, the other some distance astern. The Carnarvon Castle was now under 8,000 yards from the Thor and scoring repeated hits. After 90 minutes of action the raider decided she had had enough. By laying down a smoke screen she was able to make good her escape. During the action Carnarvon Castle fired over 500 shells and was herself hit 38 times. Six of her crew were killed and thirty two wounded. Two days later Carnarvon Castle put into Montevideo and was given permission to remain for 48 hours for repairs to be carried out. It must have given the crew some satisfaction to learn that holes in the ship's side were patched with plates taken from the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee, which had been scuttled in the Bay a year earlier. But from this incursion into naval events, let us return again to the activities of the merchant navy. By January 1940 all British merchant ships had been requisitioned by the Ministry of Shipping so that from then for the whole war all shipping was controlled by the Government. Every voyage now was fraught with danger. In confined waters the German U-boats were hunting in packs. The German bombers were a constant menace, while there was always the chance of an encounter with a raider. Slower cargo ships travelled in convoy, with an escort from the Navy, but it was considered that the mailships had sufficient a turn of speed to show a clean pair of heels to any U-boat. The dazzle paint, such a feature of ship camoflage in the first world war was no longer used, and all ships were painted overall in battleship grey. In the early months of the war Hitler began to use one of his secret weapons, the magnetic mine. Until the device of degaussing ships was evolved this presented a serious problem to all ships and it is thought that the first loss suffered by the Union-Castle Line was due to this mine. The Dunbar Castle left the Thames in January 1940 to join a convoy on passage to South and East Africa. The following day off Deal, when luncheon was just over, there was a terrific explosion. The foremast came cracking down on the bridge, fatally injuring the captain. The back of Dunbar Castle had been broken in two. In less than half an hour the ship was resting on the bottom of the channel. To those who lived through the war the name Dunkirk brings back a memory which will never be forgotten. Dunkirk meant a withdrawal from the Continent which was a shattering military defeat, but it also revealed the wonderful spirit alive in the country and how by the improvisation of an armada of little boats so many of our army were brought back from the Continent to England where they could be restored and re-equipped, ready to continue the fight in other theatres. There was one Union-Castle ship which played a noble part in this story. She was not a ship which had been in the public eye, but a cargo ship, the Dundrum Castle. In June 1940 she lay at St Nazaire. On board was a military cargo for discharge at Dunkirk. Orders came that she was to leave St Nazaire in the afternoon. She was about to sail when 500 troops and a few civilian refugees were put on board. Somewhat delayed in her departure, she entered the river bound for the channel and the shores of Britain, but she was to get no further that afternoon. German aircraft began to raid the port and shipping in the harbour was repeatedly attacked. Nearby was the Lancastria, also bound for Britain, with 5,000 troops on board. A direct hit was scored. The Lancastria slowly turned on her side and sank. The Dundrum Castle made for the scene of the disaster with all possible speed and two of her lifeboats took part in the rescue operation. This work was slow and painful. The water was thick with fuel oil and to drag even a single survivor into the lifeboats took a considerable time. Last to leave the scene were the lifeboats from the Dundrum Castle, their crews exhausted, but by their efforts over 120 lives were saved. That evening, under cover of darkness, the Dundrum Castle left the anchorage to join a convoy and eventually arrived safely at Southampton. Already most of the passenger liners were being used as troopships. Bunks had bene rapidly fitted into holds, in public rooms, even over empty swimming pools. Cabin partitions were stripped away to make dormitory accommodation. A 25,000 ton ship such as Stirling Castle which was designed to carry some 700 passengers could now accommodate 5,000 troops or more. In September 1940 the Italian armies invaded Egypt and for some years to come North Africa was to be the scene of much fighting. To meet the threat, great fleets of ships sailed from England, fully laden with munitions and crowded to capacity with troops. They had to make the long haul all the way round the Cape. In one convoy that left from Britain there were six Union-Castle ships - Capetown Castle, Athlone Castle, Winchester Castle, Arundel Castle, Windsor Castle and Durban Castle, the Athlone Castle having the distinction of being the commodore ship. Outside Table Bay the convoy divided, half the ships going in to dock at Cape Town and the remainder going on to Durban. This became the pattern for future convoys. During these few days in port, away from blackouts and food rationing, both the troops and the sailors manning the ships came to know the wonderful hospitality of the people of South Africa. These were truly memorable days and there is many a serviceman who looks back in pleasure on those brief interludes away from the grim realities of war and in gratitude for the way he was looked after by the South African people. In June 1941 Germany attacked Russia and a new phase of the war began. In August that year the first of the Arctic convoys set out for the north. The commodore ship of that convoy was Llanstephan Castle, having on board the convoy commander and 550 men of the Royal Air Force. The destination was Iceland and Archangel - far removed from the tropical waters for which Llanstephan Castle had been designed. Great secrecy had been observed and the voyage proved uneventful. The convoy remained at Archangel for a month during which time aircraft from Britain were assembled and flown to Murmansk. When the Llanstephan Castle left with the convoy to return home she had on board 200 Polish airmen who had been prisoners in Russian camps for two years. Now, with the RAF in Britain, they were to resume the fight once more. When the war histories of shipping companies came to be written, it often seemed that while many ships carried on their business in quiet obscurity, the names of one or two ships would always crop up whenever action was at its height. Just such a ship was the Langibby Castle which first came into prominence in the war with a most eventful voyage in 1942. In the second week in January Llangibby Castle was part of a great convoy which left Britain, routed for Singapore. Four days after leaving port she was hit in the stern by a torpedo. Twenty six men were killed, four wounded; her defensive gun was blown twelve feet into the air and lost overboard and, even more serious, the rudder had been hit and was no use at all. On board were 1500 men. A strong south-west gale was blowing and the seas were high. Llangibby Castle was in a precarious position. The area was invested with U-boats. There was no possibility of an escort. She had to struggle to maintain a speed of nine knots. Her only method of steering was by her engines, and the Atlantic was in no friendly mood. It was decided that she should make for the Azores, 700 miles away. Within three hours an attack on the ship was made by a German bomber. The bombs missed their target, but a burst from the German rear gunner wounded the boatswain. It says much for the spirit of the men of the Llangibby Castle that, in spite of all the hazards and problems with which they were faced, they were ready to hit back. Her AA guns opened fire on the plane and they believed they scored a hit, for as the plane disappeared from view it was rapidly losing height, with black smoke coming from its tail. It was three days before the safety of the Azores was reached providing a well-earned respite. Fourteen days they were allowed to spend there and on February 2 the Llangibby Castle had to but to sea again, this time heading for Gibraltar. It had not been possible to do much in the way of repairs, and there was still no rudder to steer the ship. Three destroyers and an Admiralty tug were standing by as an escort. As she was about to leave one destroyer signalled that a U-boat had been rammed and destroyed, but others were awaiting to deliver the knock-out blow. At dusk that evening there was a battle royal with destroyers dropping depth charges, firing guns, throwing up snowflakes and star shells. Now the wayward Llangibby Castle - Elsie (L.C.) she had been dubbed - was giving trouble and had to be put in charge of the tug. When daylight came she cast off her tug and began steering by her engines again, her erratic course now acting as a good (and more or less unpredictable) zig-zag. The accompanying destroyers had brushes with U-boats from time to time but all went well and on February 6 they were further comforted by the arrival of an air escort. At 8pm on February 8 Llangibby Castle arrived at Gibraltar. Her service personnel were quickly disembarked and were soon continuing on their way in another ship. For the Llangibby Castle it was a stay of 57 days while they patched her up as best they could, but there was no possibility of acquiring another rudder. So, still rudderless, she left for the United Kingdom on the final 1445 mile stage of her epic travels. The journey took six days, and apart from the services of a tug for a few hours in the straits of Gibraltar, she completed the voyage without assistance. In all Llangibby Castle had travelled 3400 miles wthout rudder and without stern. Another ship which became prominent in differing roles was the Winchester Castle. In May 1940 she began to load battle equipment at Glasgow. Soon after loading began a naval officer came on board and some Royal Marines were embarked. With her equipment all on board Winchester Castle left Yorkhill Quay and anchored at Gourock. Here the naval officer revealed that he was to be in charge of a flotilla of landing craft and their crews. One of the landing craft came alongside. A lifeboat was lowered and unhooked and the LCA hoisted in its place. Now Winchester Castle was ready to sail again, but her destination was no far off country. She was to sail to a nearby Scottish loch. At Loch Fyne fourteen of her 18 lifeboats were replaced by LCAs. That night under cover of darkness the marines were quickly embarked in the landing craft and with troops from other liners they made an assault on the shore. Next day Winchester Castle navigated yet more difficult channels and came to anchor off Inveraray at the northern end of Loch Fyne. Here had been established the headquarters of Combined Operations, where commando troops were to be trained. For nearly a year Winchester Castle remained in these waters, carrying out all kinds of manouvres and exercises. The ship was organised as Brigade Headquarters and among those who visited her were Lord Louis Mountbatten and Admiral Sir Roger Keyes. Many thousands of men in training passed through her. In March 1942 a detachment of commando troops and two companies of the East Lancashire Regiment were embarked with great secrecy in Glasgow Docks. Winchester Castle now joined a great troop convoy, heavily escorted. The destination was Madagascar and Winchester Castle became headquarters ship for the expedition. On April 22 the convoy reached Durban and here it was joined by another Union-Castle ship, the Llandaff Castle with 1150 troops on board. After successful landings and the capture of the port of Diego Suarez, the Winchester Castle lay at anchor there for nearly three weeks. A radio transmitter station was fitted up on board and she became Radio Diego Suarez. When the positionthere had been consolidated Winchester Castle crossed to Mombasa to fetch men of the King's African Rifles. From there she went to New York and after an overhaul sailed for Britain with a full complement of American troops. In September that year she was back in Loch Fyne, preparing for even greater things that were to come. Of all the stories told of the part played in the war by the merchant navy, perhaps the most dramatic is that of the convoy that broke through to beleagured Malta. While the allied position in the Mediterranean was precarious, Malta - that unsinkable aircraft carrier, as she had been called - remained a perpetual threat to the enemy. For the Germans Malta had to be eliminated if Rommel was to be assured of victory in North Africa. So Malta was bombed almost out of existence. Its dockyards were for a time rendered useless; little food remained for its inhabitants, little petrol for its Spitfires. Relief had to come by sea convoys. Up to the end o f1941 ships had been getting through but by 1942 the passage had become perilous. In August 1942 a convoy left Britain; this convoy had to get through if Malta was to survive. There were 14 merchantmen including the Rochester Castle and they were accompanied by the battleships Nelson and Rodney, the cruisers Nigeria and Manchester and 12 destroyers. Later the protective force was strengthened by the aircraft carriers Indomitable, Eagle and Victorious, five additional cruisers and 20 more destroyers. Enemy planes were based on Sicily and Sardinia and it was from this quarter that the heaviest attacks were expected. The Italian Navy, too, might well attempt to bar the passage of the convoy. The Mediterranean was entered on the night of August 9, helped by darkness and fog. It was on the 11th that enemy aircraft were spotted shadowing the convoy. That afternoon the first casualty occurred. The aircraft carrier Eagle was torpedoed by a submarine and went down in less than 10 minutes. On board the Rochester Castle the sight of the sinking of the aircraft carrier was a blow to morale. For many it was the first time they had ever seen a ship sink. Up to then they had seen nothing of the enemy but at two o'clock the attack began. After a serious air attack had been beaten off by accurate gunfire and by the superb efforts of the fighter pilots the spirits of those on board Rochester Castle were lifted and morale remained high through all the adversities through which they were to pass. The Rochester Castle was armed with a Bofors gun aft, siz Oerlikons, one 4.7 inch low angle gun, four machine guns, four FAMS (rocket fired parahutes on a length of wire with an explosive charge attached) and a rocket gun firing 3 inch shells. An additional Bofors, part of the cargo, had been mounted on No. 2 hatch. Air attacks were now going on all the time and the ship was straddled with bombs. Water began to come into the engine room through two fractured frames. On deck every available man was used to keep the guns supplied with ammunition. There could be no relief for gun crews and they were given makeshift meals at their guns. August 12 was the day of greatest ordeal. Waves of bombers came over. Mines were dropped as well as bombs, but it was not until the evening that the first merchant ship was lost. Two hours before sunset, off the Tunisian coast, the attack reached its peak. A submarine surfaced in the centre of the convoy and sank a cruiser, and AA cruiser and Clan Ferguson. Around midnight August 12/13 the convoy rounded Cape Bon. Rochester Castle was hit by a torpedo from an E-boat and No. 3 hold was flooded. She was now drawing 36 feet forward and 30 feet aft, but by great efforts in the engine room they still maintained a speed of 13 1/2 knots. At daybreak a squadron of Stukas roared into the attack. The third bomber attacked Rochester Castle and scored three near misses with its bombs. Numerous holes were made in the bow and stern and several fires were started. The situation on board was critical. The forepeak, No. 1 and No. 2 holds were leaking and the pumps could not quite cope with the leaks. But still struggled on, encouraged by a signal from HMS Nigeria, "Well done Rochester Castle". After midday on the 13th things quietened down and at 6pm that day Rochester Castle, the first of the battered survivors from that fine convoy that had set out from Britain, reached Valletta. In her side was a hole 20 feet by 18 feet, and there were 200 other holes from bomb splinters. As they steamed past the fort of St Angelo the cliffs were black with a crowd of 70,000 people. One by one four other ships limped into the harbour. Malta had been saved, but at the cost of nine merchant ships lost, as well as naval vessels. The Spitfires could fly again; food and other badly needed supplies had come just in time. The year 1942, after many grievous disasters for the Allies, ended on a note of promise with the November landings in North Africa. The Union-Castle fleet was well represented in these landings. In the huge convoy that left Britain was the Winchester Castle with her full complement of commando troops and American rangers, bound for Sidi Ferruch Bay, outside Algiers. Her sister ship, the Warwick Castle, was also in the convoy. With a full load of American troops she was destined for the assault on Oran. The Durban Castle, detailed as a headquarters ship, was to lead a convoy into Arzeu Bay - and the Llangibby Castle was also there. Early in the morning on November 8 the assault began. While French resistance lasted, fierce fire was aimed at ships outside the harbour. The Llangibby Castle was hit by an 8 inch shell which demolished the engineers quarters. The ship opened fire on the shore battery with her 6 inch gun at a range of 4500 yards. After sixteen rounds the enemy fire ceased. A few days later the troopships made a dash without escort for Gibraltar. There they were to assemble in convoy for Britain, to bring back reinforcements. On that dash the Viceroy of India was lost, but the four Union-Castle ships were soon safe at anchor in the shadow of the Rock. On November 12 the convoy left Gibraltar. In the Atlantic the weather was vile. The ships were buffeted by heavy seas, the escorting destroyers were almost submerged. Two days later an enemy submarine dived under the ships and took up her position ready to attack. Her victim was the Warwick Castle. It took six hours to pick up the survivors. In reporting the loss, the First Officer of commented both on the courage shown by the Captain, officers and ratings of the rescuing ship, Achates, and also on the excellent behaviour of the crew of Warwick Castle from beginning to end. For the next few months Union-Castle ships continued to assist with the North African campaign and it was in March 1943 they suffered a further major loss. The 19,000 ton Windsor Castle with more than 2000 troops on board was in convoy 110 miles to the north west of Algiers. At 2.30 in the morning she was hit by a torpedo from an enemy aircraft. The weather was fine and there was bright moonlight. Although Windsor Castle showed no signs of going down her captain considered it advisable to abandon ship. Quietly, quickly and in perfect order the troops were taken safely to naval craft in the vicinity. The captain with 35 of his officers and men remained on board. It was hoped that the ship might be taken in tow and brought to harbour, but after eight hours on board it was considered imprudent to remain on board any longer. Destroyers had remained in the vicinity and at five o'clock that day instructions were received that destroyers wre to take the Windsor Castle in tow. But this was too late; by now the ship was settling rapidly and at 5.20 pm she went up on end and stern first slid slowly beneath the waters of the Mediterranean. During 1943 American troops were pouring across the North Atlantic and the three largest ships in the Union-Castle fleet, Capetown Castle, Athlone Castle and Stirling Castle, all helped in carrying them. On one voyage alone Stirling Castle brought 6,160 men from New York. The Carnarvon Castle, her work as a naval ship over, went to New York for conversion into a troopship, and she too played her part in these crossings. In July that year the focus of attention turned to the Mediterranean with the landings in Sicily. The Durban Castle carried the 41st marine commando, which had to be first ashore. The Winchester Castle brought men of the 8th Army across from Egypt. And, of course, the Llangibby Castle was there. She saw her Canadian commando troops safely ashore despite rough weather. Sicily was followed by Salerno and Anzio in which both Winchester Castle and Durban Castle took part. Meanwhile plans were going ahead for the greatest assault of all. On the Clyde the Llangibby Castle was thoroughly overhauled before sailing for the Solent. Here much time was spent with other ships at exercise in anchoring in formation, night manoeuvres, signalling etc. On board Llangibby Castle was a fine body of specially trained Canadian troops. There were also 120 Royal Marines who were attached to the ship. The crew of the Llangibby Castle numbering 200, were to assist generally. The ship was attached to J Force. On the night of 5th June Llangibby Castle weighed anchor and moved off to take up her position. On the stroke of 5.30 on June 6th she anchored off the Normandy coast. All her men were landed safely on the beaches. By 3pm that day the division weighed anchor and by nine o'clock all the vessels were back in Spithead. Now followed weeks of ferrying British and American troops to France. In the great build up that followed D-Day the Llangibby Castle crossed the Channel more than 60 times and carried over 100,000 troops. At the request of the Ministry of War Transport, shortly before D-Day, the Company set up a stevedoring operation at Southampton for loading and discharging military equipment, stores and transport for the Normandy front. This was under the direction of staff from the company's cargo department, who returned to Southampton from Liverpool and Glasgow. In all they handled about two million tons of equipment, one fifth of the total tonnage of the war material handled through Southampton. For lashings used for this cargo 2284 miles of wire were used. In a short article only some of the story can be told. A few ships found the limelight. Many others went about their tasks and attacted no attention - but none the less made an equally valuable contribution. It was the uneventful voyage that brought the greatest benefit. Perhaps this story can best be concluded by quoting a few figures of just what this effort meant. The Union-Castle company lost 11 ships through enemy action, six of them passenger ships. Apart from distances covered by the armed merchant cruisers, their ships voyaged nearly 7 million miles from the beginning of the war until March 1946, at which time they were still in the service of the nation. Athlone Castle alone travelled nearly half a million miles. Between them they carried 1,290,000 troops and civilian passengers - and to feed these people they served 54,360,000 meals! Sixty five of the company's staff were killed, while a further 209 were listed as missing; 33 were wounded and 62 were prisoners of war. No fewer than 144 members of the staff received honours and awards ranging from the British Empire Medal to Knighthood, while there were a further 59 Mentions in Dispatches and similar commendations. |
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(c) Cruise Ship History Collection 2018 including www.thecunarders.co.uk A Edward Elliott |