The last passenger boat of the Union Castle line, the Windsor Castle, leaves Table Bay

Once part of a vital communications link between Europe and Southern Africa, the RMS Windsor Castle was the last of the Union Castle Line's, "Cape Mail Express."  Every Thursday at 4pm a Union-Castle Royal Mail Ship would leave Southampton bound for Cape Town. At the same time, a Union-Castle Royal Mail Ship would leave Cape Town bound for Southampton. The voyage from Southampton took a mere 10 days, and continued on to Port Elizabeth East London, and Durban. Launched in 1959, the Windsor Castle was the flagship of the Union Castle fleet, well known for their signature lavender hulls and black and red funnels.  But alas, the career of Windsor Castle was short lived. The jumbo jet and economy air travel made the great steamship and others like it obsolete.  Union Castle was forced to phase out its money-losing passenger services during the 1970s, ending its shipping services altogether by 1977.  While this signaled the end of an era, Union Castle's fleet of passenger liners and freighters had helped connected Europe and Africa since 1900 and it's great ships are still fondly remembered today.  In 2007 the Union Castle Line was honored through a series of stamps issued by the South African Post Office.