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Castel Felice an attractive small liner was built in 1930 for the British India Company as the Kenya. She departed on her maiden voyage to Bombay on 18 December 1931. As her service was mostly in tropics, she was purpose built with two open promenade decks. During the war, she was transferred to the Royal Navy and served as a troop ship Keren. After the war, British India Line did not require her services, and she was laid up for an extensive time. There were a number of incidents, including her breaking loose from her moorings during a storm in February 1949 and she was damaged. Even though she had been damaged, the Vlasof Group purchased her in 1949 and renamed her ‘Fairstone.’ After repairs in various yards, she was finally towed to Genoa, where she received further work. Finally, in October 1950, she was transferred to Sitmar Line. In September 1952 with all repairs and refurbishments completed, she was renamed Castel Felice. On 6 October 1952, a gleaming white Castel Felice departed Genoa for her maiden voyage to Australia. At just 12,150 GRT, she might have been a relatively small ship, compared to other migrant ships, but she felt and looked bigger than she really was. Thousands of Italian, Dutch, Germans, and other nationalities, sailed on her heading for a new home in Australia. In 1970, having had a long career with Sitmar, she was finally sold to the shipbreakers in Taiwan. She arrived in Sydney 26 October 1970, and remained there for eleven days. During this time all her crockery and linen was removed and forwarded to Italy, to be used on the recently purchased Cunard Liners, which had been renamed, Fairsea and Fairwind. A fine little ship, Castel Felice Departed Sydney on 7 October and headed for the Taiwanese shipbreakers, where she arrived on 21 October, ready to be broken up. View My Guestbook Sign My Guestbook A Report from Fred Lehmann For more Information refer to Freds Homepage: |
