The Capetown Castle, built by Harland and Wolff, Belfast, was launched on 23 September 1937 and was the largest Union-Castle motor liner at the time. 734ft long with a beam of 82ft 6in, her diesels gave her a service speed of 22.5 knots. With a GRT of 27 002 tons, she could carry 292 first class and 499 cabin class passengers. Like many of the later sisters she was named after fictional South African castles. When war broke out she contnued in commercial service until 1940 when she was requisitioned for use as a troopship, returning to her owners 1946. She was the company's first ship to return to post-war service, sailing from Southampton on 9th January 1947. She continued on the mail run until 1965 until declared surplus to requirements and sold for breaking up in 1967.
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