SS Rusinga (original) (raw)

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Lake Victoria ferry in East Africa
History
Name SS Rusinga
Namesake Rusinga Island in Lake Victoria
Operator Uganda Railway 1913–29; Kenya and Uganda Railways and Harbours 1929–48; East African Railways and Harbours Corporation 1948–66
Port of registry East Africa Protectorate Kenya Kisumu
Builder Bow, McLachlan & Co,[1] Paisley, Scotland
Yard number 283[1]
Launched 1913[1]
In service 1914[1]
Status in service 2005[2]
General characteristics
Type troop ship, then passenger & cargo ship[1]
Displacement 1,300 tons[1]
Length 220 ft (67 m)[1]
Beam 35 ft (11 m)[1]
Installed power two 400 hp triple expansion engines[1]
Propulsion screw[1]

SS Rusinga is a cargo and passenger Lake Victoria ferry in East Africa.

Bow, McLachlan and Company of Paisley in Renfrewshire, Scotland built her and her sister ship SS Usoga for the Uganda Railway in 1913.[1] They were "knock down" vessels; that is, they were 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 Kenya for reassembly.

Rusinga entered service on the lake in 1914 and was a troop ship during the First World War East African Campaign.[1] After the Armistice she entered civilian service as a Lake Victoria ferry.

On 30 September 1927 Rusinga was damaged by fire.[3] She was subsequently repaired and returned to service.

In 1966 the East African Railways and Harbours Corporation withdrew her for scrap[4] but she passed into private ownership and in 2005 was still in service.[2]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cameron, Stuart; Asprey, David. "SS Rusinga". Clyde-built Database. Archived from the original on 16 June 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
  2. ^ a b Rustomji, Kersi. "17 Usoga and Rusinga". Jambo Paulo... Jambo Mykol... Kersi Rustomji. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
  3. ^ Report of the Commission of Enquiry Into the Fire, Etc., in the S.S. "Rusinga" on 30th September, 1927. Nairobi: Government printer. 1927.
  4. ^ "Gazette Notice No 3265; East Africa Railways & Harbours; Amendments to Tariff Book No 3". Kenya Gazette. Vol. LXVIII. 30 August 1966. Retrieved 18 May 2011.