THE biggest liner to sail in the mail service between Southampton and South Africa was the 38,000-ton Windsor Castle, the flagship of the Union-Castle fleet.

This splendid liner was a welcome boost to the service as she offered top-class standards of travel, especially for tourist-class passengers.

In addition she was vastly different from any other liner to sail to the Cape. Previous Union-Castle liners had all been built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast and had tended to follow the same basic design in the layout of public rooms.

The order for Windsor Castle went to Cammell Laird of Birkenhead and the ship's design represented new thinking following the Union-Castle and Clan Line merger.

The Queen Mother launched the Windsor Castle on June 23, 1959. The new liner's entry into service, in the summer of the following year, was hit by an unoffocial seamen's strike and a preliminary cruise to the Scottish Islands and Rotterdam had to be cancelled. The strike leaders had hoped to imprison Windsor Castle in Cammell Laird's yard, but a crew was embarked and the ship was able to leave for Southampton.

Similarly, the maiden sailing scheduled for August, 1960 was in danger of the strike but Captain George Mayhew, Union-Castle commodore, talked to all sections of the crew and sufficient decided to work for the ship to get away.

In 1977 declining passenger numbers, increasing costs and the rise of container traffic resulted in the legendary Union-Castle closing down.

Windsor Castle was sold off and re-named Margarita L and for a time was used as a floating leisure centre off Saudi Arabia.

Today the old ship is laid up in Greece waiting for a new buyer and facing an uncertain future.