PS Lugard II

History
NamePS Lugard II
NamesakeFrederick Lugard, 1st Baron Lugard
OperatorKenya and Uganda Railways and Harbours (1946–48); East African Railways and Harbours Corporation (1948–67)[1]
Port of registry
Routeon the Albert Nile between Pakwach in Uganda and Nimule in Sudan
BuilderFleming and Ferguson, Paisley, Scotland[1]
Yard number731[1]
Completed1946[1]
Out of service1967[2]
General characteristics
Typepassenger ferry[1]
Tonnage350 GRT[1] or 380 tons[2]
Length180 feet
Beam33 feet
Installed powerSteam
Propulsionside paddle wheel
Capacity28 1st Class passengers / 20 2nd class passengers

PS Lugard II was a British passenger ferry in Uganda.[1] She was a side wheel paddle steamer[1] with a shallow draught in order to operate on the Victoria Nile and Albert Nile. She was named after Frederick Lugard, 1st Baron Lugard, who late in the previous century had explored Uganda, secured much of it for the British Empire and served as its Military Administrator 1890–92.

Kenya and Uganda Railways and Harbours (KURH) ordered Lugard II to replace its only side wheel paddle steamer, PS Lugard, that had been in service since 1927.[3] Fleming and Ferguson of Paisley in Renfrewshire, Scotland built Lugard II in 1946.[1] She was delivered via Kisumu in Kenya.[1] Therefore, she would have been a "knock down" vessel; that is, she was bolted together in the shipyard at Paisley, all the parts marked with numbers, disassembled into many hundreds of parts and transported in kit form by sea to Mombasa and then by rail as far as Kisumu.

Lugard II operated on the Albert Nile between Pakwach and the border town of Nimule in Sudan. Her capacity was supplemented by pushing a barge or lighter that provided third class accommodation as well as cargo space.[4]

Lugard II connected at Pakwach with the KURH sternwheelers PS Speke (1910), PS Stanley (1913) and PS Grant (1925) that plied the Victoria Nile and Lake Kyoga until 1962.[3] In that year KURH's successor, the East African Railways and Harbours Corporation (EAR&H), opened its northern Uganda branch line from Tororo to Pakwach, giving a new connection with Lugard II's Albert Nile service and superseding the Victoria Nile ferries.[3]

Lugard II was herself withdrawn from service a few years later, and in 1967 EARH offered her for sale.[2]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Lugard II". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "Gazette Notice No 265; East Africa Railways & Harbours". Kenya Gazette. Vol. LXVIX, no. 4. 24 January 1967. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  3. ^ a b c "Cambridge University Library: Royal Commonwealth Society Library, Mombasa and East African Steamers, Y30468L". Janus. Cambridge University Library.
  4. ^ McCrow, Malcolm. "Mbulamuti for Namasagali - Congo, Sudan and Egypt". East African Railways and Harbours. Malcolm McCrow. Retrieved 23 May 2011.