Union-Castle Line's 25,554-ton Stirling Castle proved to be a fast liner on her maiden voyage from Southampton to South Africa in 1936.

She covered the 6,000-mile voyage from the docks to Cape Town in 13 days, nine hours, breaking a record which the old Union liner Scot had established in 1893.

Towards the end of her career, she was the first liner to leave Southampton for what had become the Republic of South Africa.

The ship and a sister liner, Athlone Castle, were ordered from Harland and Wolff at Belfast in 1934, a year which marked the start of a crucial period of reconstruction of the Union-Castle fleet.

The new ship was about 5,000 tons bigger than the last group of mail liners. Her big pear-shaped funnel, the streamlined bridge-front and semi-clipper bow gave an impression of power.

Stirling Castle left on her maiden voyage on August 21, 1936 and during the Second World War served as a troopship. In peacetime she carried a maximum of 780 passengers but on wartime voyages she sometimes accommodated more than 6,000 troops.

When war ended the liner did not return immediately to the South Africa services. She was chartered for several voyages to Australia, prinicpally with post-war settlers.

In 1947 the liner was back on her pre-war route and continued in service until 1966, shortly before new additions to the mail fleet were due to be commissioned. She was broken up in Japan.