The Bulawayo is the second of the Kali-class Super Dreadnaughts in the Terran fleet. She launched from dry dock a scant four months after the lead ship, the TRS Kali and according to scuttlebutt from the shipyard, there was a bet between the two captains and lead engineers on which one would be finished first. In another universe, its entirely possible that the entire line could have been called the Bulawayo-class.
Six months out from the launch of the Kali, a request came in from Terran High Command to pause construction and allow several Special Forces teams to use the Bulawayo hull as a training ground for a proposed mission to assault a League shipyard and steal an experimental ship. Work on the Bulawayo, which at the time was about a month ahead of the Kali in terms of completion, was halted. The mission was scrubbed and the whole debacle resulted in a five month delay on finishing the Bulawayo, hence the Kali becoming the lead ship. Reportedly, the Bulawayo's first captain attempted to bill high command for the cost of the bottles of gin she had to deliver to the Kali's captain and lead engineer.
From Matt:
At some point, we came up with the Charlemagne Disaster and we needed a ship to be the underlying cause. I knew I wanted this to, nominally, be on the Terrans. They were on their military upswing at the time and having them be responsible for the greatest disaster in human (if not galactic) history was a great way to get them to the table.
I kind of hate that its at the cost of a ship that I bet has some cool stories, but hey, we can always circle back and explore the Bulawayo at a later date.
CRITICAL NOTE: There will never be another Terran vessel named Bulawayo. That name, to them, is absolutely burned.