MV Stirling Castle

RMMV Stirling Castle was an ocean liner of the Union-Castle Line in service from the 1930s to the 1960s, primarily on the Southampton to Cape Town route. Named after Stirling Castle in Scotland, she was built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast, and launched in July 1935.

Propulsion
Her two Burmeister & Wain engines were built by Harland and Wolff under licence, and were the largest marine oil engines constructed in Britain until then. Each driving a single screw, they were were double-acting 10-cylinder marine two-stroke diesels developing 24,000 hp with bore x stroke 26 in x 59 in. Each engine was 34 ft high from the centre of the crankshaft, 72 ft long and weighed 900 LT.

Service
She left Southampton on her maiden voyage on 7 February 1936. In August of that year, Stirling Castle set a new record for the route, reaching Table Bay in 13 days 9 hours, beating the previous record of 14 days, 18 hours, and 57 minutes set by SS Scot in 1893.

During World War II, Stirling Castle was used as a troopship, returning to passenger service in 1946. She was broken up in Japan in 1966.