SS Uganda (1952)

SS ''Uganda'' was a British steamship that had a varied and notable career. She was built in 1952 as a passenger liner, and successively served as a cruise ship, hospital ship, troop ship and stores ship. She was laid up in 1985 and scrapped in 1992.

Passenger liner

Barclay Curle and Company of Whiteinch, Glasgow built ''Uganda'' for the British-India Steam Navigation Company (BI). She was a passenger and cargo liner with capacity for 167 first class and 133 tourist class passengers and of cargo. Her original tonnages were , and . Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company built her two Parsons steam turbines, which between them developed 12,300 shp.

''Uganda'' was launched on 15 January 1952, completed six months later and made her sea trials on 16 July. On trial she achieved a top speed of , but in service she normally cruised at . Her route was between London and East Africa, calling at Gibraltar, Naples, Port Said, Aden, Mombasa, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanga and Beira.

Increasing competition from civil aviation reduced the market for passenger sailings between Britain and East Africa, leading BI to withdraw ''Uganda'' from the route in 1967.

Cruise ship

BI had Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft of Hamburg refit ''Uganda'' as an educational cruise ship. Decks were inserted in her former cargo holds, which were converted into dormitory cabins with a total of 920 berths. The conversion raised her passenger capacity from 300 to 1,226 and cost £2.8 million. It increased her gross and net tonnages to but the loss of cargo capacity reduced her deadweight tonnage to .

In her new rôle ''Uganda'' sailed her first voyage on 27 February 1968. On 21 October 1969 while she was cruising in the North Atlantic in international waters off Cape Trafalgar a Spanish shore battery opened fire. Several shells landed within of the ship.

''Uganda'' continued for 14 years cruising mainly in Scandinavia and the Mediterranean, together with her company consort . In 1971 ''Uganda''s management and operation were transferred to P&O's Passenger Division. In 1972 P&O absorbed its BI subsidiary and ''Uganda''s ownership. However, uniquely within the P&O fleet, ''Uganda'' retained her BI livery of white hull with a black band and black funnel with two white bands. ''Nevasa'' was larger and more modern than ''Uganda'' but also more expensive to run. In 1974 she was withdrawn and scrapped, leaving ''Uganda'' as the fleet's only educational cruise ship.

Falklands service

In 1982 ''Uganda'' was a hospital ship in the Falklands War with the call sign of "Mother Hen". She was called up for military duty while on cruise 276 and discharged her 315 cabin passengers and 940 school children, who were on an educational cruise, in Naples. When ''Uganda'' docked in Naples, reporters turned up their microphones to hear a ship full of school children singing ''Rule, Britannia!''

''Uganda'' had a three-day refit in Gibraltar where a helicopter platform, fittings for replenishment at sea, satellite communications and wards and operating theatres were installed. Two additional water distillers were fitted on the sports deck. In accordance with the Geneva Convention she was painted white and eight red crosses were painted, two on each side of the hull, one facing forward on the bridge superstructure, one on the upper deck visible from the air, and one on either side of her funnel. A team of 136 medical staff including 12 doctors, operating theatre staff and 40 members of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service, left Portsmouth to join her taking large quantities of medical supplies with them.

The survey vessels , and were converted to ambulance ships to work with ''Uganda''. She received her first casualties on 12 May: wounded men from the Type 42 destroyer . ''Uganda'' sailed to and fro between "Red Cross Box 2" – at position and Middle Bay, taking on casualties, both British and Argentine, transferring those who were well enough to the converted survey ships for passage to Montevideo. On 28 May 1982 the land battles started and Uganda anchored in Grantham Sound, 11 miles northwest of Goose Green, where casualties from both sides arrived by helicopter and were treated. By 31 May 1982 she had 132 casualties aboard.

''Uganda'' co-ordinated the movements of the three British and three Argentine ambulance ships , and . She conducted 504 surgical operations, treated 730 casualties including 150 Argentinians, and made four rendezvous with the Argentine ships. In deference to the TV series ''M*A*S*H'' she was nicknamed NOSH – Naval Ocean-going Surgical Hospital.

By 10 July 1982 her role as a hospital ship was over and the crew held a party for 92 Falkland children more in keeping with her peacetime role. On 13 July 1982 ''Uganda'' was deregistered as a hospital ship and the red crosses were painted out. Two days later she went back to Grantham Sound, to embark the men of the 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles and their equipment, before sailing for the UK on 18 July 1982. She arrived at Southampton on 9 August 1982, 113 days after she had sailed to join the Task Force. In this time she had sailed 26,150 miles, consumed 4,700 tons of fuel, received more than 1,000 helicopter landings on her flight deck and 3,111 personnel had been transferred to or from her.

Post war

Smiths Shiprepairers of North Shields extensively refitted ''Uganda'', but her games deck windows never did close properly again after having Sea King helicopters landing on her quoits court. She returned to educational cruising on 25 September 1982, but in November she was chartered for two years to serve as a store ship between Ascension Island and the Falkland Islands. She was fitted with a new helicopter deck and on 14 January 1983 left Southampton for the Falklands again.

''Uganda'' was refitted again at Falmouth in November 1983. She completed her charter in 1985, reached Falmouth on 25 April 1985 and was laid up in the River Fal on 4 May 1985.

''Triton''

On 29 April 1986 the Triton Shipping Company of St Vincent bought ''Uganda'' and renamed her ''Triton''. With a crew of 21 she left the Fal on 20 May and anchored off Kaohsiung in Taiwan on 15 July to await breaking. On 22 August Typhoon Wayne drove her ashore. She was still ashore on her side in March 1992, but has since been broken up.

In popular culture

In 1970 ''Uganda'' was used in the Children's Film Foundation film ''All at Sea''.

References

External links

SS ''Uganda'' cruise ship log, details and reminiscences of ''Uganda''The SS ''Uganda'' Trust

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uganda, 1952
1952 ships
Ships built on the River Clyde
Cruise ships
Hospital ships during the Falklands War
Hospital ships of the Royal Navy
Ships of the British India Steam Navigation Company
Ships of P&O
Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean