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Union-Castle Line
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==Predecessor lines== [[File:A starboard quarter view of the liner Gascon under way (4793356104).jpg|thumb|''Gascon'' was built in 1897]] [[File:Union-Castle Line Intermediate Steamer Galeka.jpg|thumb|{{SS|Galeka||2}} was built in 1899 and sunk by a [[Naval mine|mine]] in 1916.]] [[File:HS Glenart Castle torpedoed and sunk 26.02.1918.JPG|thumb|{{HMHS|Glenart Castle||2}} as a First World War [[hospital ship]]. She was built in 1900 as ''Galician''.]] The Union Line was founded in 1853 as the '''Southampton Steam Shipping Company''' to transport coal from [[South Wales]] to [[Southampton]]. It was renamed the Union Steam Collier Company and then the Union Steamship Company. In 1857, renamed the Union Line, it won a contract to carry mail to South Africa, mainly the [[Cape Colony]]. The inaugural sailing of ''Dane'' left Southampton on 15 September.<ref name=Damant>{{harvnb|Damant|1977|p=}}{{page needed|date=January 2018}}</ref> Meanwhile, [[Donald Currie]] had built up the '''Castle Packet Co.''' which traded to [[Calcutta]] round the [[Cape of Good Hope]]. This trade was substantially curtailed by the opening of the [[Suez Canal]] in 1869, and the Castle Line started to run to South Africa instead, later becoming the '''Castle Mail Packet Company'''. In 1872 the Cape Colony gained [[responsible government]] and its first Prime Minister, [[John Molteno]], ordered a re-negotiation of the country's mail services. In 1876, keen to avoid either of the two main companies gaining a monopoly on the country's shipping, he awarded the South African mail contract jointly to both the Castle Mail Packet Company and the Union Line. The contract included a condition that the two companies would not amalgamate, as well as other clauses to promote competition, such as alternating services and speed premiums. This competition led to their shipping services running at unprecedented speed and efficiency. The contract was eventually to expire however, and the period of intense competition was later to give way to co-operation, including transporting troops and military equipment during the [[Boer War]]. Finally, on 8 March 1900, the Union Line and Castle Shipping Line merged, creating the '''Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company, Ltd''', with Castle Shipping Line taking over the fleet.{{sfn|Murray|1953|p=74}}<ref> {{cite web |url= http://ancestry24.com/currie-sir-donald/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100103195312/http://ancestry24.com/currie-sir-donald/ |url-status= usurped |archive-date= 3 January 2010 |title=Sir Donald Currie |date=9 November 2021 |publisher=[[Ancestry24]]}}</ref>{{sfn|Molteno|1900|p=120}}
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