R.M.V. "WINCHESTER CASTLE"
1930-1960
The Ugly Duckling!
The "Winchester Castle" berthing at Port Elizabeth, 1960. Smaller than the other mail ships, the 1930's modernisation was not as kind to her as with her close sister the "Carnarvon". But she was a fine sea boat, her up and down stem might have looked ungainly but it cut through the waves instead of 'slamming' in as the more fashionable raked stems tended to do.
She and her sister were always 'happy' ships, any sailor knows that a ship takes on a character of its own, some are happy others not. This seems to have nothing to do with those on board but was simply the ship herself; the two identical sisters "Edinburgh Castle" and "Pretoria Castle" were anything but identical in atmosphere. The "Edinburgh" was always a happy ship, the "Pretoria" the complete opposite.
The "Winchester Castle" was fitted out as an landing ship during WWII and her chief operational claim to fame was the Madagascar landings.