Back in the Day

"The Union-Castle Line, 1900-1977"

- By Kyra Tarr

Before commercial air travel (literally) took off in the 1950s, travellers would take leave of their loved ones with a “Bon voyage!” and board a ship.

One of the great shipping lines to link Africa and Europe in the 20th century was the Union-Castle Line. It ferried passengers, mail, and cargo between Cape Town and Southampton in England, stopping at various East African ports on the way.

Although the name “Union-Castle” became synonymous with seafaring holidays and African safaris, its inception is linked to mail delivery. In 1900, the Union Steamship Company and the Castle Mail Packet Company merged to form the Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company and won a tender to ferry mail between England and the Cape Colony. Every Thursday at 4 pm, a ship would leave Southampton bound for Cape Town, and vice versa. The voyage took approximately two weeks.

Most of the fleet had the suffi “Castle” in their names: a relic from the Castle Mail Packet Company. There was the Windsor Castle, Pretoria Castle, Edinburgh Castle, Kenya Castle and so on. (See theshipslist.com for the full list.)

“In the 1960s and 70's, my grandmother lived high on the slopes of Signal Hill,” says Pierre Steyn, editor of this magazine. “From her balcony, we spent many an afternoon watching the Union-Castle mail ships round Mouille Point on their way to A-Berth in the Duncan Dock. With their graceful lines, red funnels, and lavender hulls, they were the most exotic and beautiful things I’d ever seen. You could also visit the dock and see them up close, which people did in their hundreds.