ALNWICK CASTLE was built in 1901 by Wm. Beardmore & Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 5893grt, a length of 400ft 5in, a beam of 50ft
ALNWICK CASTLE was built in 1901 by Wm. Beardmore & Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 5893grt, a length of 400ft 5in, a beam of 50ft 2in and a service speed of 14 knots.
Alnwick Castle was the first of four cargo-passenger vessels ordered by Sir Donald Currie soon after the Castle-Union amalgamation.
The conclusion of the Boer War had encouraged the belief that emigration on a large scale to South Africa would follow and, accordingly, the Alnwick Castle and her sisters Berwick, Cawdor and Newark Castles were fitted with ample third-class accomodation but carried only a few first and second-class passengers.
Two more “extra” steamers, as they were called, were added shortly afterwards, Cluny and Comrie Castles, and, until the outbreak of the Great War in 1914 these six vessels were employed on the West Coast run, calling generally at Lobito Bay - then hardly developed- and occasionally at Mossamedes; they were also employed on a regular Mauritius service.
Shortly after the commencement of hostilities in 1914 the Alnwi