Castel Felice
Castel Felice was a SITMAR (Società Italiana Trasporti Marittima) Line liner. History. The "Castel Felice", as she was eventually named, was built in Glasgow in 1930 for the British India Company as the "Kenya", commencing her maiden voyage to Bombay on 18 December 1931, then operated between India and Africa carrying passengers (mainly Indian immigrants) and cargo. The British Government requisitioned her in 1940 and she was converted to an armed infantry landing ship for World War 2. Renamed first HMS "Hydra", then HMS "Keren", she was used to land troops for action in Madagascar, Sicily and North  Africa. The British India Line refused an option to resume ownership after the war in 1946 and consequently she was purchased by the British Ministry of Transport. Laid up at Holy Loch in Scotland she was subsequently purchased by the Vaslav group. In 1949 the vessel broke moorings and was swept ashore in a heavy storm. In 1950 ownership was transferred to the Sitmar Line which re-modelled and refitted the ship in Genoa in the following year, and named the "Castel Felice" (‘Happy Castle’) for her inaugural Australian voyage to Melbourne. She began the South American immigrant service in  1952. Two years later she was refitted with air conditioning and a swimming pool to commence the Atlantic service to New York. Between 1952 and 1970, on a total of 101 voyages, she carried over 100,000 immigrants to Australia and New Zealand, of these, 16,126 were breadwinners and the others dependents. She left Sydney in 1970 to be broken up in Taiwan, with all cutlery and linen transferred to Cunard for use on the "Fairsea" and "Fairwind" from Sydney.