 Dunvegan Castle in civilian service
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | |
| Name | Dunvegan Castle |
| Namesake | Dunvegan Castle |
| Owner | Union-Castle Mail SS Co Ltd |
| Operator |
|
| Port of registry | London |
| Route | Tilbury – South Africa (1936–39) |
| Builder | Harland and Wolff |
| Yard number | 960 |
| Launched | 26 March 1936 |
| Completed | 18 August 1936 |
| Maiden voyage | 18 September 1936 |
| In service | 1936 |
| Out of service | 1940 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Torpedoed by U-46 on 27 August 1940; sank 28 August 1940 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | 540.0 ft (164.6 m) |
| Beam | 71.9 ft (21.9 m) |
| Draught | 28 ft 2 in (8.59 m) |
| Depth | 37.8 ft (11.5 m) |
| Decks | 3 |
| Installed power | 1,931 NHP |
| Propulsion | 2-stroke diesel |
| Speed | 16 knots (30 km/h) |
| Capacity | 258 1st class and 250 tourist class passengers (1936–39) |
| Sensors and processing systems |
|
| Armament |
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| Notes | sister ship: Dunnottar Castle |
HMS Dunvegan Castle was a UK ocean liner that was converted into an armed merchant cruiser (AMC) in the Second World War. Harland and Wolff built her and her sister ship Dunnottar Castle in Belfast in 1936.
Union-Castle Line operated Dunvegan Castle on scheduled services between Southampton and South Africa until 1939. When war broke out she was requisitioned by the Admiralty and commissioned as HMS Dunvegan Castle.
She escorted Allied convoys from Sierra Leone to Britain from January 1940. In August 1940, she was torpedoed and sunk by U-46, a German submarine, in the Western Approaches, killing 27 of her crew.