HMS Scimitar finds new purpose bringing healthcare to East Africa's Lake Victoria

A former Royal Navy patrol boat that once patrolled Gibraltar has been repurposed to deliver healthcare to remote communities on Lake Victoria in East Africa.  

HMS Scimitar, decommissioned in 2020 and renamed MV Lady Jean, will now serve as a mobile clinic for people living on and around the lake, many who lack access to regular medical care.

Operated by UK charity Vine Trust, the newly refurbished MV Lady Jean will provide essential healthcare to around 50,000 people each year.

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The boat's focus will include offering HIV treatment and primary care for residents of the lake's islands.

Lake Victoria borders three countries – Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda –  and it is three times the size of Wales and is home to nearly 1,000 islands.

Built in Portsmouth, HMS Scimitar began life as the Grey Fox and was used to patrol the waters of Northern Ireland during the final years of The Troubles.

In 2003, she was transferred to the Rock to become one half of the new Gibraltar Squadron as HMS Scimitar, alongside her sister HMS Sabre.

In her transformation, she underwent a full refit by Babcock and UK Docks in Gosport.

The process included replacing her engines with a truck engine for better suitability, as well as adding air conditioning, medical equipment, and a galley.

After travelling from Portsmouth to Mombasa by container ship, she was loaded onto a low-loader truck for a 500-mile land journey to Kisumu, Kenya, and then made the final leg by water to Mwanza, Tanzania.

Now stationed at Mwanza, MV Lady Jean will begin her medical rounds following final trials and training.

Over the next 20 years, Vine Trust estimates that MV Lady Jean could help provide healthcare access to a million people in the region.