RMS Durham Castle
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2017}}
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{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = StateLibQld 1 141491 Durham Castle (ship).jpg | Ship caption = Durham Castle in Australian waters prior to being requisitioned by the Royal Navy }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = United Kingdom | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} | Ship name = RMS Durham Castle | Ship owner =*File:Union-Castle Line house flag.svg Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company, London (1904-1939)
| Ship namesake = Durham Castle | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan | Ship laid down = | Ship acquired = | Ship commissioned = 1939 | Ship decommissioned = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship honours = | Ship fate = Sunk by a mine on 26 January 1940 | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship type =Passenger ship | Ship tonnage = 8,217 gross register tons{{cite web |last = |first = |author-link = |title = Lloyd's Register 1934-35 |publisher = plimsollshipdata |date = |url = https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/34/34b0258.pdf | accessdate = 30 November 2011}} | Ship length = {{convert|475.4|ft|m}} | Ship beam = {{convert|56.7|ft|m}} | Ship draught = {{convert|31.6|ft|m}} | Ship propulsion = Twin screw | Ship speed = | Ship range = | Ship complement = | Ship sensors = | Ship EW = | Ship armament = | Ship armour = | Ship notes = }} |
RMS Durham Castle was a passenger ship built for the Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company in 1904.{{cite book | title=Shore Establishments of the Royal Navy | publisher=Maritime Books | author=Warlow, Ben | year=2000 | pages=111 | isbn=978-0-907771-74-6}} In 1939, the Admiralty requisitioned her for use as a store ship. She sank on 26 January 1940 after hitting a mine probably laid by the {{GS|U-57|1938|6}}.
Construction and service
File:At Cape Town (MP) 2018 160.jpg]]
Built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan, Durham Castle was launched on 17 December 1903, as the sister ship of {{RMS|Dover Castle}}. She served the Cape of Good Hope to Mombasa service from 1910, and continued in commercial service during the First World War, with occasional troopship duties. She was part of a convoy sailing up the English Channel in June 1918, in company with the Union-Castle {{RMS|Kenilworth Castle|1904|6}} and escorted by the cruiser {{HMS|Kent|1901|6}} and five destroyers. On 4 June HMS Kent was leaving the convoy, but owing to a misunderstanding, cut across Kenilworth Castle{{'}}s bows. Turning to avoid Kent, Kenilworth Castle instead collided with the destroyer {{HMS|Rival|1916|6}}, and sustained severe damage and several casualties.
Durham Castle sailed on the East African route from 1931, travelling via the Suez Canal, and was withdrawn from service in 1939 after being replaced by RMS Pretoria Castle. The Admiralty acquired her after the outbreak of the Second World War for use as a storeship. She was taken in tow, bound for Scapa Flow as a base accommodation ship, but on 26 January 1940 she struck a mine off Cromarty and sank. The mine was probably one that had been laid by U-57.
References
{{Reflist}}
- [http://www.red-duster.co.uk/UNION15.htm Ships of the Union-Castle Line at red-duster.co.uk] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524001643/http://www.red-duster.co.uk/UNION15.htm |date=24 May 2012 }}
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{{January 1940 shipwrecks}}
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Category:Ships built on the River Clyde
Category:Ships of the Union-Castle Line
Category:Auxiliary ships of the Royal Navy
Category:World War I merchant ships of the United Kingdom
Category:Ocean liners of the United Kingdom
Category:Maritime incidents in January 1940