A LINER still remembered with affection in Southampton is Arundel Castle, which served in the Union-Castle fleet for 37 years.

The liner made her maiden sailing from Southampton to South Africa in 1921, carrying passengers, mail and cargo.

In some respects she was a trailblazer, being the first Union-Castle ship to have four funnels and the first to be fitted with geared turbines.

At 19,118 tons she was half as large again as the company's previous biggest ship on the mail service, Balmoral Castle.

Interest in the new ship in South Africa was immense. Passengers on the return leg of the maiden voyage included General Smuts, the South African prime minister, and members of his Cabinet who were

travelling to England for the Imperial Conference.

During the 1930s, Union-Castle carried out a massive reconstruction programme to prepare for a speed-up of the mail service, and Arundel Castle played a key part.

As a troopship during the Second World War she steamed half a million miles, carrying more than 200,000 servicemen.

Part of her post-war work was transporting emigrants from the UK to South Africa.

After a refit in Belfast, Arundel Castle resumed the Southampton to South Africa service in September, 1950.

Despite competition from newer ships, Arundel Castle retained her pre-war popularity with many passengers remaining loyal to the ship over the years.

By 1958 Arundel Castle was 37 years old and she was sent to Hong Kong to be scrapped.

Her place in the Southampton to Cape Town route was taken over by Pendennis Castle.