MV Stirling Castle.

My father sailed out of Halifax, Convoy NA-16, on the Stirling Castle, bound for Liverpool in September 1942. The battle ship, USS Arkansas, was the primary escort.


Another site for info for the Stirling Castle is:

Stirling Castle (2) (bandcstaffregister.com)

 

On the bandstaffregister site the names F.J. Roach and Walter Roach are listed:

Union-Castle Mail Steamship Co (bandcstaffregister.com)

You may want to send them an email.

 

For Peter Roach, and all who have passed this way before.

Courtesy of "Shipping Wonders Of The World" edited by Clarence Winchester circa 1937, R. M. M. V. Stirling Castle in all her pre-war glory.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

HI, My Grandad joined the Stirling Castle in Liverpool in 1940 when he was age 15, I would be interested if anyone could give me information about life on the ship, photos , anything from that time please?

 

Welcome to the forum

Would you like to share his name
What info do you have on him currently

 

Currently another discussion going on which includes her: The Winston Specials: Troopships Via the Cape 1940-1943

 

The whole movement card that Kevin mentioned (#14) is now available to download from TNA: Ship Name: Stirling Castle Gross Tonnage: 25550 | The National Archives.

Her passenger manifests for convoys TC 11 and NA 16 are also available on Héritage.

 

Thanks for posting these links. I've already found the movement cards for two more ships of interest to us .. The free downloads from TNA are instant and a great resource

 

Thanks Peter, do you have notes for the trip from Colombo to Southampton, 28 November - 17 December? This was my father's final voyage in the Royal Navy, back home to the UK after 5 years service in WW2. I'd be interested in any information about the ship in terms of its facilities etc. and whether the troops had the same level of comfort and facilities as paying passengers did before the war.

 

In searching for the name of the ship that carried my uncle and other members of RASC/1st Airborne from Port Glasgow to Algeria in May of 1943, I found that HMT Stirling Castle sailed with convoy KMF 15, but with HMT Staffordshire split off for Oran, Algeria and arrived there on 26 May 1943. That conforms with what I found in my uncle's commanding officer's War Diary. I also found correspondence online suggesting that the Stirling Castle was also know as H.M.T. 136. I'm searching for H.M.T P. 74, so it seems likely that was the Staffordshire's military name. I know what the HMT stands for, but haven't found what P. 74 means - though my guide in this said it is an army number. Any thoughts welcome! Thanks.

 

Barbara,

P.74 is far too short as an Army Number and as a Convoy Number.

 

I think that you will find that 136 and P.74 were simply pseudonyms given to vessels for particular voyages Barbara.

See also UK Movement Control Ship Registers? for some other examples/background.

 

Thank you David and Roberto! This information is extremely helpful, and I will follow the link to UK Movement Control Ship Registers. I can always count on WW2talk for help and have met some wonderful people along the way. I've been working on a manuscript about my British family during WW2. After cutting 100 pages for publishers, and then deciding to publish on my own, my editor and new copyeditor convinced me I'd tossed out some important parts. So - maybe in a year, with help from many people including both of you, I will have the book in my hands.

All the best,

Barbara

 

Hello Barbara,

There may be something of help/interest to you within the post from a previous thread on troop transportation to North Africa here:

Troopship route length to North Africa 1943

Also, the whole of that thread itself may be of interest.

Good luck with all your research and nailing the ship down for definite.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Hi Jim,

This thread and the other to which you linked me are both tremendously helpful - thank you. Both confirm a lot of the information I found, and gives me so much more. The War Diary entries for the RASC troops accompanying the 1st Airborne are terse and I had no idea about conditions on board. I want to add - I love you guys!! You are always helpful, and know so much that I find fascinating. What I learn from you fleshes out my understanding of my uncle's experience during the war - and sometimes even puts me in touch with people who shared it - including a man who was with him at Dunkirk with whom I corresponded. WW2Talk is an amazing resource. Thank you! Barbara