RMS Kenilworth Castle (1903)

RMS Kenilworth Castle was a British Passenger ship that served for the Union-Castle Line until its scrapping in 1937. It also served as a troop transport during the First World War. This was also the last ship Titanic-lookout Reginald Lee served on before his death in 1913.

Construction
Kenilworth Castle was built at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, United Kingdom and launched on 15 December 1903 before being completed on 19 May 1904. The ship was 173.78 m long and had a beam of 19.71 m. It was assessed at and had 2 x 4 Cyl steam engines driving two screw propellers. The ship could reach a speed of 17.5 knots. It had a sistership named Armandale Castle and were the first mail steamers ordered by the newly merged Union-Castle Line.

Career
Kenilworth Castle mainly served on the Union-Castle line's mail service between Southampton, United Kingdom and Cape Town, South Africa. At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Kenilworth Castle was requisitioned by the Admiralty as a troopship and took part in the famous six ship Union-Castle convoy which brought 4000 troops to mainland Europe that same year.

Kenilworth Castle was sailing in the English Channel in convoy at 12.30 am on 4 June 1918 with all its lights out, when it collided with the stern of the destroyer HMS Rival off Eddystone Lighthouse after it herself tried to avoid a collision with another vessel in the convoy who had changed its course. A number of live depth charges which were stored on the destroyer's stern went overboard and exploded underneath Kenilworth Castle its stern. The ship was badly damaged but remained afloat and reached nearby Plymouth by 8 am. The accident also killed 15 crew of the Kenilworth Castle after the two lifeboats they were in got swamped while they were trying to evacuate in the misunderstanding that the ship had been torpedoed. The ship was subsequently repaired from June 1918 to July 1919, by which time it was returned to commercial service, retaking her old route.



In 1919 the ship was quarantined at Table Bay for three weeks due to an influenza epidemic which was raging throughout South Africa. The ship was refitted between April and June 1928 and its second class accommodations were removed in 1934.

Scrapping
The Kenilworth Castle was withdrawn from service in May 1936 and ultimately scrapped at Newport, Wales, United Kingdom in 1937.