Built for British India's UK-East Africa run (the line's founder Sir William MacKinnon having played a critical role in the development of British East Africa in the 1880s.) UGANDA was the second of two new mailships built by Barclay Curle in 1951-52. She was distinguishded from KENYA by her funnel which was 12 feet higher. UGANDA made her first voyage to Dar-es-Salaam and Mombasa via Suez in August 1952. The "BI Sisters' were the best British tonnage on the route, decorated and fitted out to a rather higher standard that the Union-Castle KENYA CASTLE trio. KENYA and UGANDA were simply splendid looking vessels of perfect proportions and possessed that certain 'dignity' that only a BI mailship summoned up.