Author:
Sarah Townsend (ne: Hudston)
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Date Posted: 19:37:32 06/04/07 Mon
I was extremely lucky to go on 2 cruises on SS Uganda. The first was in Dec 1980 and I was 13. The trip was memorable mainly because we sailed through the worse storm the Med' had seen in 25 yrs. It was very scarey, 45ft waves hitting the ship, water pouring in and down into the dorms. The following day we were told that the ship had lost all radio contact and we were drifting with the sea.We did get back on course, but had to miss going to Egypt.
We got an extra day in Israel and then sailed to Cyprus, where we ran aground and bent the ship's rudder!! This caused even more delays and we only had time then to go to Greece, missing out getting to Yugoslavia.
The second Derbyshire cruise in Dec 1982 was brilliant. We got to all the countries, including Egypt (at last!!),didn't see one storm and had a fantastic time.
As the ship was used during the Falklands war, we had to wait to see if we would be sailing, but as the war was over in the Autumn, Uganda was back in the educational business by December. We were very privileged to be given a slideshow of her time as a hospital ship during the Falklands crisis and we saw photos of images that the world never saw, such as a chinook helicopter trying to land on the tiny heli' pad built over the student swimming pool. Amazing!
The other poignant memory from this time was the inscriptions on the side of the lockers in the dorms'. They were left by soldiers recovering from the war and a lot had stuck remembrance day poppies next to them as well. Both British and Argentine soldiers were treated side by side on Uganda and the things they had written on the lockers showed that they had huge respect for each other.
Other memories are: the awful smell in the canteen and the inedible food (we lived on Mars bars); Action Man the entertainment officer; dressing up as anything you could for the fancy-dress night, just so that you got a glimpse of 'carpet land', where the paying passengers lived; filmshows; the head-masters lectures; the list is endless.
It was and still is the best 2 weeks of my life. I made lots of new friends and got to see some amazing coutries. I am only sorry that Uganda has gone, but not from our memories or our hearts.
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