The liner Martinique was originally named Norham Castle when ordered for the Castle Line's England to Cape Town mail service in 1882. Built on the Clyde by John Elder & Col, she was registered at 4,341 tons gross and measured 380 1/2 feet in length with a 48 foot beam. A single screw vessel capable of a steady 12 knots, she had accommodation for 334 passengers (in 3 classes) and carried a crew of 140. Entering service in February 1883, she represented the company at Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee Review of the Fleet in 1887 and proved an extremely reliable ship throughout her career on the South African run. Despite new triple expansion engines increasing her speed to 15 knots in 1891, she was becoming too slow and outdated by the turn of the century and was offered for sale by Union-Castle in 1903. Purchased by the French Line, she was renamed Martinique and put to work on their Bordeaux to the West Indies and Central America service. Proving equally reliable under her new colours, she continued on this route until age finally caught up with her and she was sold to Italian shipbreakers in 1931.