RMS Transvaal Castle was a British ocean liner built by John Brown & Company at Clydebank for the Union-Castle Line for their mail service between Southampton and Durban. In 1966 she was sold to the South Africa-based Safmarine and renamed S.A. Vaal for further service on the same route. Following cessation of the service between the UK and South Africa in 1977 the ship was sold to Carnival Cruise Line and rebuilt in Japan as the cruise shipSS Festivale, re-entering service in 1978.[5] In 1996 she was chartered to Dolphin Cruise Line and renamed IslandBreeze.[6] In 1998 the ship was sold to Premier Cruise Line,[7] which renamed her The Big Red Boat III.[4] Following the bankruptcy of Premier Cruise Line in 2000,[8]The Big Red Boat III was laid up until 2003 when she was sold to scrappers in Alang, India.[9] She was renamed The Big Red Boat for her final voyage to the scrapyard.
SS Festivale docked in Barbados on 26 February 1987.
RMSTransvaal Castle was the last in a series of three ships planned by the Union-Castle Line in the 1950s as replacements for the company's oldest ships RMS Arundel Castle, RMS Carnarvon Castle and RMS Winchester Castle. The Transvaal Castle was preceded by the RMS Pendennis Castle (delivered in 1958) and RMS Windsor Castle (delivered in 1960). Pendennis Castle was an enlarged Pretoria Castle from the same builder, Harland & Wolff, but after the Union-Castle/Clan Line merger of 1956, Clan Line management predominated and no further Union-Castle ships were ordered from the Belfast yard. Transvaal Castle was similar to but smaller than Windsor Castle, built by Cammell, Laird & Co. the previous year. At 32,697 GRT, she was the company's second-largest ship.
Transvaal Castle was launched at Clydebank on 17 January 1961 by Lady Cayzer, wife of the chairman of British & Commonwealth Shipping, and delivered to Union-Castle on 16 December 1961.[1] Like Windsor Castle, she was fully air conditioned and was one of the first British built passenger ships to have a bulbous bow. However, the major difference between the new ship and her fleetmates was that she was conceived as an experimental "hotel" ship, with all passenger accommodation in one class rather than the first and tourist split of the other mail ships. This concept had been used in the three round Africa service ships of the Rhodesia Castle class built in 1951/1952, but this was its first (and only) application to the mail fleet. A further innovation was the use of female waiting staff, known as "stewardettes". These were later to be a feature of the other ships in the mail fleet, but the one class concept was restricted to this one ship, the others retaining two class to the end of their service.
Service historyEdit
1961–1977: United Kingdom—South Africa liner serviceEdit
Transvaal Castle set out on her maiden voyage from Southampton to Durban on 18 January 1962. In July 1965, the mail service was accelerated with the Southampton-Cape Town voyage cut from 13½ days to 11½ days. The previous departure from Southampton at 4 PM on Thursday, every week was altered to 1 PM every Friday.[5]
In order to meet South African demands for a greater share in the running of the mail service, the Transvaal Castle and her fleetmate RMS Pretoria Castle (respectively the youngest and oldest units of the fleet) were transferred to the South African Marine Corporation (Safmarine) in 1966.[5] The Transvaal Castle was taken over by Safmarine on 12 January 1966 and renamed S.A. Vaal. The ship's hull was repainted white and her funnel changed to Safmarine's mid-grey, with three thin lines of the then South African national colours: orange, white and blue. Although now under Safmarine ownership, both ships were bareboat chartered back to Union-Castle and continued to be manned by the same crews as the other mail ships. RMS S.A. Vaal remained registered in London[1] and continued to operate on the same service as before. Thus the UK—South Africa service became a joint operation between Union-Castle and Safmarine.[5] In February 1969 the S.A. Vaal and S.A. Oranje were re-registered in Cape Town.[1] but continued to be managed and crewed by Union-Castle, with a few Safmarine officers in later years. The mail ship operation was always managed from London.
The Union-Castle/Safmarine joint mailship service declined heavily during the 1970s. This was due to a combination of adverse economic factors including the loss of earnings from high value cargoes, which were increasingly being carried in the more efficient, revolutionary new container ships. With the large increase in oil prices in 1973, the mail ship schedule was extended by one day to allow more economical steaming. After Pendennis Castle was withdrawn in June 1976 just two mailships remained on the route – Union-Castle's Windsor Castle and Safmarine's S.A. Vaal – in addition to Union-Castle's last cargo/passenger vessels RMMV Good Hope Castle and RMMV Southampton Castle (carrying just 12 passengers each) and other chartered cargo-only tonnage. The jointly owned passenger liner service ceased completely in October 1977, with the S.A. Vaal being the last to arrive in Southampton on 10 October 1977.[5]
1978–2003: Cruise ship serviceEdit
The Big Red Boat III and Rembrandt laid up in Freeport's harbor on 25 August 2001.A model of the ship at the South African Maritime Museum
S.A. Vaal was sold to Carnival Cruise Line and renamed SS Festivale. Carnival converted her into a cruise ship in Japan at a cost of $30 million,[2] removing former cargo holds and doubling the vessel's passenger capacity, installing lounges, discothèques and casinos. The vessel became one of Carnival's "First Generation" fun ships. Although the former mail ship's superstructure was greatly enlarged, registration in Panama resulted in her tonnage dropping to 26,632 (by UK rules it would have been around 38,000). Soon after entering service in 1978, the Festivale was used as a floating location for the TV miniseries The French Atlantic Affair, starring Telly Savalas, Chad Everett and Michelle Phillips.[10]
Carnival chartered the Festivale to Dolphin Cruise Line in 1996. They renamed her IslandBreeze, and she annually operated cruises under charter to Thomson Holidays.[6] In 1998, she was sold to Premier Cruise Line,[7] but continued under charter for Thomson until 2000,[11] when she was renamed The Big Red Boat III and repainted red for Texas based cruises.[4]
Premier Cruises filed for bankruptcy in 2000,[8] and their ships were seized in various ports in the Caribbean, North America, and Europe. By now ageing, outmoded and in need of repairs, the Big Red Boat III could find no work and was sold to shipbreakers in Alang, India in the summer of 2003. She was scrapped in 2003–2004.[9]
ReferencesEdit
^ abcdefghijkAsklander, Micke. "T/S Transvaal Castle (1961)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 December 2008.
^ ab"Company History – Carnival Cruise Line News". 7 June 2018.
^Sentinel, Arline Bleecker, Orlando. "CHANGES ON THE SHIP SHUFFLING SCENE". chicagotribune.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ abcChronicle, Harry Shattuck, Houston. "PREMIER TO FOCUS ON FAMILIES". chicagotribune.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ abcdeMiller, William H (1986). The Last Blue Water Liners. London: Conway. pp. 55–58. ISBN0-85177-400-8.
^ abWriter, TOM STIEGHORST Business. "CARNIVAL TO CHARTER VETERAN VESSEL". Sun-Sentinel.com. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
transvaal, castle, this, article, contain, excessive, inappropriate, references, self, published, sources, please, help, improve, removing, references, unreliable, sources, where, they, used, inappropriately, november, 2019, learn, when, remove, this, template. This article may contain excessive or inappropriate references to self published sources Please help improve it by removing references to unreliable sources where they are used inappropriately November 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message RMS Transvaal Castle was a British ocean liner built by John Brown amp Company at Clydebank for the Union Castle Line for their mail service between Southampton and Durban In 1966 she was sold to the South Africa based Safmarine and renamed S A Vaal for further service on the same route Following cessation of the service between the UK and South Africa in 1977 the ship was sold to Carnival Cruise Line and rebuilt in Japan as the cruise ship SS Festivale re entering service in 1978 5 In 1996 she was chartered to Dolphin Cruise Line and renamed IslandBreeze 6 In 1998 the ship was sold to Premier Cruise Line 7 which renamed her The Big Red Boat III 4 Following the bankruptcy of Premier Cruise Line in 2000 8 The Big Red Boat III was laid up until 2003 when she was sold to scrappers in Alang India 9 She was renamed The Big Red Boat for her final voyage to the scrapyard SS Festivale docked in Barbados on 26 February 1987 HistoryBahamasName1961 1966 RMS Transvaal Castle 1966 1969 RMS S A Vaal 1969 1977 TSS S A Vaal 1977 1996 TSS Festivale 1996 2000 TSS IslandBreeze 2000 2003 SS The Big Red Boat III 2003 SS The Big BoatOwner1961 1966 Union Castle Line 1966 1977 Safmarine 1977 1996 Carnival Cruise Line 2 1996 1998 Dolphin Cruise Line 3 1998 2000 Premier Cruise Line 4 RouteSouthampton Las Palmas Cape Town Port Elizabeth East London DurbanBuilderJohn Brown amp Co Clydebank Scotland United Kingdom 1 Yard number720 1 Launched17 January 1961 1 CompletedDecember 1961Maiden voyage18 January 1962 1 In service1962Out of serviceSeptember 2000 1 IdentificationIMO number 5367623FateScrapped at Alang India in 2003 1 General characteristics as built 1961 1 TypeOcean linerTonnage32 697 GRT 16 604 DWTLength760 ft 2 in 231 70 m Beam90 ft 2 in 27 48 m Draught32 ft 9 8 m Decks8Installed power44 000 shp 33 000 kW PropulsionGeared turbines twin screwSpeed22 5 knots 41 7 km h 25 9 mph Capacity728 passengers one classCrew426General characteristics as rebuilt 1978Typecruise shipTonnage26 632 GRT Panamanian rules c 38 000 by UK rules Capacity1 432 passengers 1 Crew579NotesOtherwise the same as built Contents 1 Concept and construction 2 Service history 2 1 1961 1977 United Kingdom South Africa liner service 2 2 1978 2003 Cruise ship service 3 References 4 External linksConcept and construction EditRMS Transvaal Castle was the last in a series of three ships planned by the Union Castle Line in the 1950s as replacements for the company s oldest ships RMS Arundel Castle RMS Carnarvon Castle and RMS Winchester Castle The Transvaal Castle was preceded by the RMS Pendennis Castle delivered in 1958 and RMS Windsor Castle delivered in 1960 Pendennis Castle was an enlarged Pretoria Castle from the same builder Harland amp Wolff but after the Union Castle Clan Line merger of 1956 Clan Line management predominated and no further Union Castle ships were ordered from the Belfast yard Transvaal Castle was similar to but smaller than Windsor Castle built by Cammell Laird amp Co the previous year At 32 697 GRT she was the company s second largest ship Transvaal Castle was launched at Clydebank on 17 January 1961 by Lady Cayzer wife of the chairman of British amp Commonwealth Shipping and delivered to Union Castle on 16 December 1961 1 Like Windsor Castle she was fully air conditioned and was one of the first British built passenger ships to have a bulbous bow However the major difference between the new ship and her fleetmates was that she was conceived as an experimental hotel ship with all passenger accommodation in one class rather than the first and tourist split of the other mail ships This concept had been used in the three round Africa service ships of the Rhodesia Castle class built in 1951 1952 but this was its first and only application to the mail fleet A further innovation was the use of female waiting staff known as stewardettes These were later to be a feature of the other ships in the mail fleet but the one class concept was restricted to this one ship the others retaining two class to the end of their service Service history Edit1961 1977 United Kingdom South Africa liner service Edit Transvaal Castle set out on her maiden voyage from Southampton to Durban on 18 January 1962 In July 1965 the mail service was accelerated with the Southampton Cape Town voyage cut from 13 days to 11 days The previous departure from Southampton at 4 PM on Thursday every week was altered to 1 PM every Friday 5 S A Vaal in Southampton 1967 S A Vaal in Southampton 1967In order to meet South African demands for a greater share in the running of the mail service the Transvaal Castle and her fleetmate RMS Pretoria Castle respectively the youngest and oldest units of the fleet were transferred to the South African Marine Corporation Safmarine in 1966 5 The Transvaal Castle was taken over by Safmarine on 12 January 1966 and renamed S A Vaal The ship s hull was repainted white and her funnel changed to Safmarine s mid grey with three thin lines of the then South African national colours orange white and blue Although now under Safmarine ownership both ships were bareboat chartered back to Union Castle and continued to be manned by the same crews as the other mail ships RMS S A Vaal remained registered in London 1 and continued to operate on the same service as before Thus the UK South Africa service became a joint operation between Union Castle and Safmarine 5 In February 1969 the S A Vaal and S A Oranje were re registered in Cape Town 1 but continued to be managed and crewed by Union Castle with a few Safmarine officers in later years The mail ship operation was always managed from London The Union Castle Safmarine joint mailship service declined heavily during the 1970s This was due to a combination of adverse economic factors including the loss of earnings from high value cargoes which were increasingly being carried in the more efficient revolutionary new container ships With the large increase in oil prices in 1973 the mail ship schedule was extended by one day to allow more economical steaming After Pendennis Castle was withdrawn in June 1976 just two mailships remained on the route Union Castle s Windsor Castle and Safmarine s S A Vaal in addition to Union Castle s last cargo passenger vessels RMMV Good Hope Castle and RMMV Southampton Castle carrying just 12 passengers each and other chartered cargo only tonnage The jointly owned passenger liner service ceased completely in October 1977 with the S A Vaal being the last to arrive in Southampton on 10 October 1977 5 1978 2003 Cruise ship service Edit The Big Red Boat III and Rembrandt laid up in Freeport s harbor on 25 August 2001 A model of the ship at the South African Maritime MuseumS A Vaal was sold to Carnival Cruise Line and renamed SS Festivale Carnival converted her into a cruise ship in Japan at a cost of 30 million 2 removing former cargo holds and doubling the vessel s passenger capacity installing lounges discotheques and casinos The vessel became one of Carnival s First Generation fun ships Although the former mail ship s superstructure was greatly enlarged registration in Panama resulted in her tonnage dropping to 26 632 by UK rules it would have been around 38 000 Soon after entering service in 1978 the Festivale was used as a floating location for the TV miniseries The French Atlantic Affair starring Telly Savalas Chad Everett and Michelle Phillips 10 Carnival chartered the Festivale to Dolphin Cruise Line in 1996 They renamed her IslandBreeze and she annually operated cruises under charter to Thomson Holidays 6 In 1998 she was sold to Premier Cruise Line 7 but continued under charter for Thomson until 2000 11 when she was renamed The Big Red Boat III and repainted red for Texas based cruises 4 Premier Cruises filed for bankruptcy in 2000 8 and their ships were seized in various ports in the Caribbean North America and Europe By now ageing outmoded and in need of repairs the Big Red Boat III could find no work and was sold to shipbreakers in Alang India in the summer of 2003 She was scrapped in 2003 2004 9 References Edit a b c d e f g h i j k Asklander Micke T S Transvaal Castle 1961 Fakta om Fartyg in Swedish Retrieved 21 December 2008 a b Company History Carnival Cruise Line News 7 June 2018 Sentinel Arline Bleecker Orlando CHANGES ON THE SHIP SHUFFLING SCENE chicagotribune com a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link a b c Chronicle Harry Shattuck Houston PREMIER TO FOCUS ON FAMILIES chicagotribune com a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link a b c d e Miller William H 1986 The Last Blue Water Liners London Conway pp 55 58 ISBN 0 85177 400 8 a b Writer TOM STIEGHORST Business CARNIVAL TO CHARTER VETERAN VESSEL Sun Sentinel com a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a first has generic name help a b Premier confirms Houston plans Travel Weekly www travelweekly com a b Commodore halts operations files Chapter 11 Travel Weekly www travelweekly com a b Final port call an elephant s graveyard in India Travel Weekly www travelweekly com TV Q amp A with David Inman 13 December 2009 Moreno Manuel IslandBreeze Manuel Moreno External links EditOCEAN LINER RMS TRANSVAAL CASTLE THE FRIENDLY SHIP Historical Promotional Film The Transvaal Engine Room Link Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title RMS Transvaal Castle amp oldid 1139562034, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
