SS Drakensberg Castle

The Empire Allenby was a 9,904 ton cargo liner which was built in 1944. She was renamed Drakensberg Castle in 1946, and scrapped in 1959.

History
Name	Empire Allenby (1944-46) Drakensberg Castle (1946-59)
Owner	Ministry of War Transport (1944-46) Union Castle Mail Steamship Co Ltd (1946-59)
Operator	Owner operated except:- Prince Line Ltd (1944-46)
Port of registry	Sunderland (1945-47) South Africa (1947-57) South Africa (1957-59)
Builder	J L Thompson & Sons Ltd, Sunderland
Yard number	633
Launched	18 October 1944
Completed	June 1945
Out of service	5 August 1959
Identification	UK Official Number 180157 (1945-47) Code letters GJTM (1945-47)
Fate	Scrapped in Hong Kong September 1959
General characteristics
Tonnage	9,904 GRT
Length	475 ft 4 in (144.88 m)
Beam	64 ft 1 in (19.53 m)
Depth	40 ft (12.19 m)
Propulsion	2 x steam turbines double reduction geared driving one screw
Speed	14.5 knots (26.9 km/h)

History

Empire Allenby was built by J L Thompson & Sons Ltd, Sunderland^[1] as yard number 633. She was launched on 18 October 1944 and completed in June 1945.^[2] Empire Allenby was built for the Ministry of War Transport and operated under the management of Furness, Withy & Co Ltd, who traded as Prince Line Ltd.^[1]

In 1946, Empire Allenby was sold to the Union Castle Mail Steamship Co Ltd, who traded as the Union-Castle Line. She was renamed Drakensberg Castle.^[3] On 22 July 1947, she was transferred to the South African registry. Although Drakensberg Castle was a fast ship compared to others in the Union-Castle Line fleet, she was expensive to operate and not suitable for use as a tramp. She was sold for scrap to the Hong Kong Salvage & Towage Co and arrived for scrapping in Hong Kong on 5 August 1959. Drakensberg Castle was scrapped in September 1959.^[4]

Official Number and code letters

Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers.

Empire Allenby had the UK Official Number 180157 and used the Code Letters GJTM.^[1]