Official Number:                      121228

Laid down:

Builder:                                  D & W Henderson Ltd., Meadowside

Launched:                              23 March 1905

Into Service:                           2 August 1914

Out of service:                        30 March 1915

Fate:                                     30 March 1915 captured and sunk

Items of historic interest involving this ship: –

Background Data:  One of an additional group of ships requisitioned by the Admiralty during WW1 to augment the ships of the RFA

Career Data:

23 March 1905  launched by D & W Henderson Ltd., Meadowside as Yard Nr: 442 named CROWN OF CASTILE for Crown SS Co Ltd., (Prentice, Service & Henderson, Managers) Glasgow.

24 March 1905 the Scotsman newspaper reported …

April 1905 completed

15 April 1905 sailed Greenock for Barbados

21 November 1906 arrived at Barbados

4 January 1907 arrived New Orleans from Belfast and Barry

2 November 1907 attived at Brunswick from New York

17 December 1907 arrived at Hamburg from Brunswick

25 December 1907 at Rotterdam

20 March 1908 at New York in fog in collision with North German Lloyd liner Kronprinz Wihelm which suffered stern damage. The Crown of Castile was undamaged. A steward onboard the Kronprinz Wihelm was killed

20 January 1909 arrived at Port Said while on passage from the Clyade for Calcutta

17 August 1909 berthed at Glasgow with a cargo of 2,000 bales of jute

3 December 1909 sailed Glasgow for Lisbon

7 December 1909 sailed Lisbon for Maderia

10 December 1909 sailed Maderia for Barbados

21 December 1909 arrived at Barbados

11 January 1910 arrived at Galveston from Demerara

17 January 1910 sailed Galveston for Bremen, Germany

27 May 1910 grounded at Cap a la Roche between somewhere between buoys 91 & 93 on the St Lawrence River. A board of enquiry, held on 14 June 1910 at Montreal found that an error of judgement had occured by the pilot for not allowing sufficiently for the current which was then materially affecting the ships course

6 August 1910 in Govan graving dock in refit

8 October 1913 arrived at Coronel while on passage from San Francisco to London

25 February 1914 passed the Lloyds Signal Station on the Lizard sailing east bound

2 August 1914 requisitioned by the Admiralty for service as a Supply Ship, name unchanged until 18 February 1915

19 February 1915 re-deployed as a Expeditionary Force Transport until 30 March 1915

30 March 1915 while on passage from St Johns, Newfoundland to Le Harve sighted by German Submarine U.28 (Georg-Günther Freiherr von Forstner) around 0818, tried to escape but soon overtaken, single shell hit at 0900, crew abandoned ship at 0920. Seven more rounds were fired into the hull but she refused to sink, boarded and two bombs placed, finished off at 1257, 31 miles SW of Bishop Rock, Scillies at 49.25N, 06.50W) the crew were picked up by French SS Magellan, landed at Barry next day.