Introduction to the SS Uganda Trust


SS Uganda Trust home page

A history of the SS Uganda

  • East African service (1952 to 1967)
  • Educational cruise ship service (1968 to 1982)
  • Hospital ship service during the Falklands War (1982)
  • Troopship service (1983 to 1985)
  • Layup and demolition voyage (1985 to 1986)

    Visit the SS Uganda Virtual Muesem

    A history of the SS Nevasa

    How to order your copy of the SS Uganda book or SS Nevasa book

    Contact the SS Uganda Trust

    Links to other sites


    SS Uganda, photographed off Gibraltar during one of her many voyages between the UK and East Africa as a passenger-cargo liner. She was a regular visitor to the Rock as an educational cruise ship and underwent her conversion to a hospital ship there in April 1982. Source: Copyright © George Hill.
    The SS Uganda Trust has its roots in the SS Uganda Society which was originally created to preserve the SS Uganda. Membership of the Society dropped in the late 1980's, after the ship had departed for the breakers, so the Trust was formed as a successor organisation which would continue the sponsorship and maritime heritage activities started by the Society:

  • Preparation of a definitive book about the SS Uganda
  • Provision of educational and recreational facilities for children and young people
  • Collection of material for a future museum exhibit about the SS Uganda

    Since its formation the Trust has also sponsored maritime heritage projects.

    The Trust was inaugurated on the 27th March 1993 and since then its biggest success has been writing and publishing a book about the SS Uganda which was launched aboard P&O's Oriana in Southampton on the 15th November 1998. Following the successful completion of this project, the Trust started work on a book about the SS Nevasa which was published in 2009.

    The donations made by the Trust since formation are summarised below:

    Financial year Donations to children and young people Donations to maritime heritage
    1993/4 £686 towards a voyage with Discovery Cruises Ltd., £250 towards a voyage with the Astrid Trust -
    1994/5 £250 towards a voyage with the Sail Training Association -
    1995/6 £550 towards voyages with the Sail Training Association £1,000 towards major repairs to the Steam Tug Portwey
    1996/7 £200 towards voyages with the Sail Training Association -
    1997/8 £100 towards a voyage with the Sea Cadets, £250 towards a voyage with the Jubilee Trust -
    1998/9 £100 towards a gap year project in Southern India -
    1999/2000 £200 towards voyages with the Sail Training Association, £250 towards a voyage with the Ocean Youth trust, £350 towards gap year projects in Uganda £500 towards the Millennium rebuild for Paddle Steamer Waverley
    2000/1 £30 towards a voyage with the Sea Cadets -
    2001/2 £2,000 to the Cirdan Sailing Trust towards the purchase of heavy weather gear for children who sail on the Queen Galadriel -
    2002/3 £2,000 to the East Coast Sail Trust towards engine and fore hatch repairs for the Thalatta that provides sea training for young people -
    2003/4 £2,000 to the Swan Trust to fund life jackets for young people who sail on the Swan £250 to the Argyll and Bute Building Preservation Trust towards the relocation of a statue of Sir William Mackinnon, the founder of the British India Steam Navigation Company Ltd., to his home town Campbeltown
    2004/5 £2,000 to the Glaciere Diving & Sailing School towards the purchase of life saving equipment for young people who sail on the Glaciere -
    2005/6 £1,000 to the East Coast Sail Trust towards a major refit of the Thalatta that provides sea training for young people -
    2006/7 £500 to the Glaciere Diving & Sailing School towards the purchase of a set of sails for the Glaciere -
    2007/8 £1,000 to the 3rd/5th Lancing Sea Scouts toards a new boat, and a further £950 to Around and Around towards life rafts and life jackets for the Lively Lady -
    2008/9 £950 to Ocean Youth Trust South towards an EPIRB and a Jonbuoy -
    2010/11 £1,500 to the East Coast Sail Trust towards a refit of Thalatta £1,500 to the Solent Packet Company towards a refit of Shieldhall
    2011/12 £1,500 to Around and Around towards facilities on the Lively Lady -
    2012/13 £1,000 to Stem to Stern towards building a traditional dinghy for children in the Woodbridge area -
    2015/16 £1,000 to Ocean Youth Trust South towards charts for their new sail training vessel Prolific -

    The Trust, which has no employees, is run by a group of Trustees: Marion Browning (Secretary), Alan Cullen (Treasurer), Clive Horton (Acting Chairman) and Bill Wragge.

    We would be happy to receive applications for sponsorship from organisations helping children and young people with a maritime emphasis, and from maritime heritage groups. We would also like to make contact with those who remember the SS Uganda and related ships, whether you are a former passenger, member of the crew, shore staff, builder, repairer, designer, inspector, agent, supplier, port worker, ...

    This photograph of the SS Uganda, as a cruise ship passing through the English Channel, was used by the SS Uganda Society in its early publicity material. Source: Courtesy of Skyphotos.

    The SS Uganda Trust is a UK Registered Charity no. 1020247