RMS Norham Castle
{{Short description|Royal Mail Ship}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2022}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=File:R.M.S. Norham Castle.png |Ship caption=RMS Norham Castle }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|UK|civil}} |Ship name= Norham Castle |Ship ordered= |Ship builder= John Elder & Co., Glasgow |Ship yard number= 270 |Ship original cost= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= 26 February 1883 |Ship completed= 16 May 1883 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship owner= File:Union-Castle Line house flag.svg Union-Castle Line |Ship operator= D Currie & Co, London |Ship registry= London |Ship renamed= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship honours= |Ship captured= |Ship fate= Broken up in Italy in 1932 |Ship identification= 87101 |Ship notes= Sold to France in 1903 and renamed Martinique }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= |Ship tonnage=*4,241 GRT
|Ship length= 380 ft. 6 in. |Ship beam= {{convert|48|ft|2|in|m|2|abbr=on}} |Ship depth= 31.4 ft. |Ship hold depth= |Ship power= 600 nhp |Ship propulsion=*As built:
|Ship sail plan= |Ship complement= |Ship crew= |Ship armament= |Ship speed=*Cruising: {{convert|12|kn|0|lk=in|abbr=on}} |Ship notes= |Ship capacity=*As built:
}} |
The RMS Norham Castle was a Royal Mail Ship and passenger liner of the Union-Castle Line in service between London, England and Cape Town, South Africa between 1883 and 1903, named after Norham Castle.
In her first year the ship was in the Java Sea in the western Pacific Ocean when the island of Krakatoa exploded in August 1883. A series of eruptions emitted vast quantities of smoke and ash and plunged the area into darkness, and waves destroyed a lighthouse and other structures. Shortly after 10:00 in the morning of 27 August the final explosion destroyed the island with a blast that was heard and felt thousands of miles away. The pressure wave from that blast ruptured the eardrums of over half of the crew of Norham Castle.Winchester, Simon, Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883, New York: Harper Collins (2003), [https://archive.org/details/krakatoadayworld00winc/page/230/mode/2up?view=theater&q=Norham pgs. 230-235].
In 1897 the ship was reviewed by Queen Victoria at Spithead during her Diamond Jubilee celebration, and was later used by the Prince of Wales when he started a grand yacht race from her deck.Hodson, Norman, "The Race to the Cape", [https://archive.org/details/racetocapestoryo0000hods/page/18/mode/2up?view=theater pg. 18] Also, in April 1897, Sir Alfred Milner traveled aboard the Norham Castle from Southampton to Cape Town, to take up the reins as the new High Commissioner of South Africa.Wrench, pg. 165Marlowe, pg. 40O’Brien, pg. 133
The ship was sold to the French line Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (General Transatlantic Company) in 1903, and renamed the Martinique. She served the Bordeaux, France{{snd}}West Indies route until 1931.
Footnotes
{{reflist}}
References
- Hodson, Norman, [https://archive.org/details/racetocapestoryo0000hods/mode/2up?view=theater The Race to the Cape: A Story of the Union-Castle Line, 1857-1977], Hampshire: Navigator, 1995
- Wrench, John Evelyn, [https://archive.org/details/alfredlordmilner0000wren/page/n7/mode/2up?q=National+Service Alfred Lord Milner: The Man of No Illusions], London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1958
- Marlowe, John, [https://archive.org/details/milnerapostleofe0000marl/page/n5/mode/2up Milner: Apostle of Empire], London: Hamish Hamilton, 1976
- O'Brien, Terence, "Milner: Viscount Milner of St. James's and Cape Town", London: Constable, 1979
External links
- Nomenclature: [https://www.clydeships.co.uk/view.php?ref=6247 Link]
- History of the ship: [https://www.bandcstaffregister.com/page1970.html Link]
{{French Line ships}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norham Castle}}
Category:Passenger ships of France
Category:Passenger ships of the United Kingdom
Category:Ships of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique