PS Lugard II

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.

History
Name	PS Lugard II
Namesake	Frederick Lugard, 1st Baron Lugard
Operator	Kenya and Uganda Railways and Harbours (1946–48); East African Railways and Harbours Corporation (1948–67)[1]
Port of registry
Route	on the Albert Nile between Pakwach in Uganda and Nimule in Sudan
Builder	Fleming and Ferguson, Paisley, Scotland[1]
Yard number	731[1]
Completed	1946[1]
Out of service	1967[2]
General characteristics
Type	passenger ferry[1]
Tonnage	350 GRT[1] or 380 tons[2]
Length	180 feet
Beam	33 feet
Installed power	Steam
Propulsion	side paddle wheel
Capacity	28 1st Class passengers / 20 2nd class passengers

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Lugard II was herself withdrawn from service a few years later, and in 1967 EARH offered her for sale.[2]