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.

RMS Norham Castle
History
United Kingdom
NameNorham Castle
Owner Union-Castle Line
OperatorD Currie & Co, London
Port of registryLondon
BuilderJohn Elder & Co., Glasgow
Yard number270
Launched26 February 1883
Completed16 May 1883
Identification87101
FateBroken up in Italy in 1932
NotesSold to France in 1903 and renamed Martinique
General characteristics
Tonnage
Length380 ft. 6 in.
Beam48 ft 2 in (14.68 m)
Depth31.4 ft.
Installed power600 nhp
Propulsion
  • As built:
  • Iron Screw Steamer
  • C2cyl (50, 90 v 60in) 600nhp, 1-screw
  • 1891 engine tripled by Fairfield Shipbuilding Co.
  • T3 cyl 36", 60 1/2", 96"x60" 4500ihp
SpeedCruising: 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Capacity
  • As built:
  • unk. first class passengers
  • unk. second class passengers
  • unk. third class passengers

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.[1]

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.[2] 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.[3][4][5]

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 – West Indies route until 1931.

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Winchester, Simon, Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883, New York: Harper Collins (2003), pgs. 230-235.
  2. ^ Hodson, Norman, "The Race to the Cape", pg. 18
  3. ^ Wrench, pg. 165
  4. ^ Marlowe, pg. 40
  5. ^ O’Brien, pg. 133

References

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  • Nomenclature: Link
  • History of the ship: Link