PS Medway Queen

Last updated

2016 Medway Queen, Gillingham Pier3498c.JPG
PS Medway Queen, Gillingham Pier 2016
History
Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
NameMedway Queen
Owner
  • New Medway Steam Packet Company (1924–64)
  • (Nightclub, Ryde) (1964–85)
  • Medway Queen Preservation Society (from 1985)
Port of registry Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg Rochester
Builder Ailsa Shipbuilding Company, Troon, Scotland
Yard numberPS 388
LaunchedWednesday 23 April 1924
In service1924
Out of service1964
Identification
  • UK Official Number 148361
  • Code letters GGNG (1944– )
  • ICS Golf.svg ICS Golf.svg ICS November.svg ICS Golf.svg
  • Pennant Number N 48 (1939–42)
  • Pennant Number J48 (1942–47)
Nickname(s)Heroine of Dunkirk
StatusUnder restoration as a museum ship
NotesSea trials 1924
General characteristics
Class and typePaddle steamer
Tonnage316  GRT
Displacement134 tonnes[ citation needed ]
Length179 ft 9 in (54.79 m)
Beam
  • 24 ft 2 in (7.37 m) hull
  • 50 ft (15.24 m) over paddle frames
Draught7 ft 8 in (2.34 m)
Installed power76 hp (57 kW) [1] Scotch type boiler 11 feet long, fitted with triple furnaces feeding Ailsa built compound diagonal steam engine. Coal fired when built, converted to oil fired by Wallsend Engineering in 1938, built by Ailsa
Propulsion Paddles
Speed
  • 13 knots (24 km/h) at 45rpm cruising
  • 15 knots (28 km/h) at 55rpm maximum speed
Armament1 × 12-pounder gun, 2 × machine guns (HMS Medway Queen)

The PS Medway Queen is a paddle driven steamship, the only mobile estuary paddle steamer left in the United Kingdom. She was one of the "little ships of Dunkirk", making a record seven trips and rescuing 7,000 men in the evacuation of Dunkirk. [2]

Contents

She was the subject of a £1.8 million National Lottery Heritage Memorial Fund grant to restore her hull. By 2014, her hull had been reconstructed and she is berthed at Gillingham Pier on the River Medway as of 2022. In 2024, she celebrated her centenary. [3]

History

PS Medway Queen was built by the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company at Troon, Scotland, in 1924 for service on the River Medway and in the Thames Estuary. Trialled on the River Clyde, she was delivered to be part of the "Queen Line" fleet of the New Medway Steam Packet Company based at Rochester, Kent. [4] She steamed on routes from Strood and Chatham, to Sheerness, Herne Bay and Margate in Kent, and to Clacton and Southend in Essex.

On 3 August 1929, Medway Queen collided with Southend Pier, Essex, and suffered extensive damage to her bows. [5]

After attending the Coronation Fleet Review for King George VI at Spithead, Medway Queen was converted to oil-fired steaming by Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company in 1937. [6]

World War II

Requisitioned by the Royal Navy on 9 September 1939, her first task was evacuating Kent children from Gravesend to East Anglia. [7] [8] She was refitted at the shipyard of the General Steam Navigation Company in Deptford Creek as a minesweeper, her stern being modified to take sweeping gear, being fitted with a 12-pounder gun and two machine guns, and allocated pennant number J 48 (N 48). [8] She served for the duration of World War II in the 10th Minesweeping Flotilla, patrolling the Strait of Dover and the English Channel.

In May 1940 Operation Dynamo was launched to rescue retreating British Army soldiers from Dunkirk in northern France. HMS Medway Queen became part of the flotilla of little ships. [9] She left with paddle steamers Sandown , Thames Queen, Gracie Fields , Queen of Thanet, PS Princess Elizabeth, Laguna Belle and Brighton Belle. [9] She made seven crossings. [9]

On her first trip, approximately 600 soldiers were taken off De Panne beach in lifeboats and ferried to the ship. [10] On her return to Dover, her arrival coincided with an air raid. She shot down a German aircraft outside the harbour. The Brighton Belle ran over sunken wreckage and began to sink. [10] All of her passengers and crew were rescued by the Medway Queen without loss of life and, heavily overloaded, she made the harbour. [11] [10]

On her second trip she took about 450 soldiers directly off the beach; [10] this required more skill, but was much faster. Soldiers used a technique with oily bags to conceal their distinctive wash from patrolling aircraft. On later trips, the Medway Queen penetrated the damaged Dunkirk port and took off men from a concrete jetty or mole. [9] Men were discharged at Ramsgate rather than Dover, where the vessel was fuelled and reprovisioned. [9]

On Monday 3 June Vice Admiral Ramsey gave the order that all ships were to leave Dunkirk by 2.30 the following morning. This was the Medway Queen's seventh trip. She was at the mole in Dunkirk when a destroyer moored astern of her was driven forwards by an explosion and smashed her starboard paddle box, she sustained considerable damage. [9] Medway Queen limped back to Dover with 400 French soldiers on board. On arriving back at Dover the crew of the Medway Queen discovered that the Admiralty had reported their ship as having been sunk (news which was reported throughout the UK); [12] the Admiralty published a correction the following morning. [13]

Her crew gained seven awards for gallantry – two Distinguished Service Crosses, [14] three Distinguished Service Medals [15] and two mentions in dispatches [16] – having made seven crossings and rescued 7,000 men. [9] In view of this remarkable achievement in rescuing so many Allied troops from France, she earned the title of "The Heroine of Dunkirk". [11] After repairs in Portsmouth Dockyard, she returned to minesweeping duties, and in 1942 she was converted to a minesweeping training ship, serving out the war in this capacity, and was returned to her owners in January 1946. [8] [7]

Return to service

Rebuilt by Thornycrofts of Southampton in 1946, she returned to civilian service with New Medway Steam Packet Company for the 1947 season. Medway Queen attended the 1953 Coronation Fleet Review at Spithead.

She made her last sailing on 8 September 1963, [17] and was scheduled to be scrapped in Belgium. [18] The Belgian ship-breaker, upon discovering that the vessel he was expecting to break up was "The Heroine of Dunkirk", declined to continue (it is reported that he felt that no one should dare to destroy such a gallant and important little ship). The Daily Mail campaigned to save her. [19]

Use as nightclub

Having been saved from scrapping, Medway Queen was eventually sold for use as a nightclub and marina clubhouse, and was moored at the Medway Queen Marina (now known as the Island Harbour Marina) on the Isle of Wight. The club opened in 1966. In 1970, a larger ship, PS Ryde, renamed as Ryde Queen, joined Medway Queen at the marina site, also operating as a nightclub. The two premises operated alongside one another for a period, until the Medway Queen was eventually closed and fell into disrepair. [20]

Preservation

In 1994, the PS Medway Queen in Damhead Creek, Kingsnorth. Medway Queen, Damhead Creek - geograph.org.uk - 1006725.jpg
In 1994, the PS Medway Queen in Damhead Creek, Kingsnorth.
The PS Medway Queen in the Albion Dry Dock, Bristol on her rededication on 27 July 2013, during the Bristol Harbour Festival Medway Queen Albion Dock.JPG
The PS Medway Queen in the Albion Dry Dock, Bristol on her rededication on 27 July 2013, during the Bristol Harbour Festival

In 1978 the Medway Queen was bought by private owners with the aim of preserving her. She was moved out of the marina to the adjacent River Medina, but sank in the river when the hull sprang a leak. There she remained, in a state of increasing deterioration, until in 1984 she was salvaged, moved to Cowes at the river’s mouth, and thence towed back to Chatham in Kent on a salvage barge. [20] In 1985 the Medway Queen Preservation Society formed, with the intention of preserving the historic ship. [21]

In 1987 she was moved to Damhead Creek, Kingsnorth on the Hoo Peninsula, but the trust lacked funds to bring her back to service, and struggled to preserve the structure. After a series of near disasters, in 2006 the National Lottery Heritage Memorial Fund agreed a £1.8 million funding package to restore her structure, subject to the society raising £225,000. Although the funds were raised, neither the insurance company nor marine engineers were confident that her hull was seaworthy and able to sustain lifting on to a pontoon. In October 2006, the Trust agreed to the deconstruction of the hull, and salvageable pieces were moved to Gillingham Pier (and a National Lottery funded warehouse) in Chatham Dockyard, in preparation of the hull being professionally restored to seaworthy condition. [22]

In October 2008, the society signed a contract with David Abels Shipbuilders to restore the hull at the Albion Dry Dock in Bristol, using plate riveting. [23] Work began in April 2009 and was due to be completed in the summer of 2010. [24] On 27 July 2013 the ship was rededicated. Plans were to float her out of the Albion Dock during the summer of 2013 and tow her back to Gillingham for a reception on 2 November. [25] [26]

The tow home to Gillingham using the tug Christine started from Bristol on 24 October 2013. [26] Weather conditions meant they were held up at Avonmouth until 15 November when the wind abated sufficiently, and the tow around Land's End and through the English Channel continued in safety. The tug and tow finally arrived on the River Medway on Monday 18 November 2013. Due mainly to tidal restriction, the Medway Queen was buoyed in Saltpan Reach until high tide the following day. On 19 November the Medway Queen made the final leg of her journey to her new home at Gillingham Pier, guided by tug master Alan Pratt, with the ship welcomed by a large crowd and TV crews. [22]

In July 2021 the Medway Queen was towed to the Royal Harbour, Ramsgate for a major refurbishment, including repairs to the paddle wheels, hull and new handrails, before returning to Gillingham. [27]

Cultural references

The ship features in the 1964 Ken Russell film French Dressing .

Official number and code letters

Official Numbers provided, on a national basis, a unique identifier for a ship, regardless of change of name. Medway Queen had the UK Official Number 148361. [28] [29]

She used the Code Letters GGNG between about 1944 and 1950. [29] [30] [31]

Timeline

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paddle steamer</span> Steam-powered vessel propelled by paddle wheels

A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans.

PS <i>Waverley</i> 1946-built preserved seagoing paddle steamer

PS Waverley is the last seagoing passenger-carrying paddle steamer in the world. Built in 1946, she sailed from Craigendoran on the Firth of Clyde to Arrochar on Loch Long until 1973. Bought by the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society (PSPS), she has been restored to her 1947 appearance and now operates passenger excursions around the British coast.

PS <i>Kingswear Castle</i>

PS Kingswear Castle is a steamship. She is a coal-fired river paddle steamer, dating from 1924 with engines from 1904. After running summer excursions on the River Medway and the Thames for many years she returned to the River Dart in Devon in December 2012 to run excursions from 2013 onwards on the river she was built on and for. Kingswear Castle is listed as part of the National Historic Fleet of ships of "Pre-eminent National Significance".

HMS <i>Basilisk</i> (H11) Destroyer

HMS Basilisk was a B-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy around 1930. Initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet, she was transferred to the Home Fleet in 1936. The ship escorted convoys and conducted anti-submarine patrols early in World War II before participating in the Norwegian Campaign. Basilisk was sunk by German aircraft during the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940.

HMS <i>Atherstone</i> (1916) Minesweeper of the Royal Navy

HMS Atherstone was a Racecourse-class minesweeper of the Royal Navy. The Racecourse class comprised 32 paddlewheel coastal minesweeping sloops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Island Harbour Marina</span> Human settlement in England

Island Harbour Marina, on the Isle of Wight, UK, is a commercial marina on the River Medina in the small hamlet of Binfield. It is located approximately halfway between Cowes and the County Town of Newport. Visiting yachtsmen will find it just past the Folly Inn on the East bank. Being a relatively small marina, it best suits pleasure craft of up to 20 metres in length. The marina accommodates both annual berthholders and short-term visiting craft.

MV <i>Royal Daffodil</i> (1939) British passenger ship

MV Royal Daffodil was built in 1939 and scrapped in 1967. In the late 1950s and early to mid 1960s she was used for "no passport" trips to France, which enabled people to drink outside normal licensing hours as these did not apply at sea.

The Little Ships of Dunkirk were about 850 private boats that sailed from Ramsgate in England to Dunkirk in northern France between 26 May and 4 June 1940 as part of Operation Dynamo, helping to rescue more than 336,000 British, French, and other Allied soldiers who were trapped on the beaches at Dunkirk during the Second World War.

PS <i>Duchess of Montrose</i>

PS Duchess of Montrose was a paddle steamer launched in 1902 and operated by the Caledonian Steam Packet Company as a River Clyde excursion steamer. She saw active service during the First World War after being requisitioned by the Admiralty and converted into a minesweeper. She was lost near Dunkirk on 18 March 1917 after striking a mine.

<i>Sundowner</i> (yacht) 1912 yacht

Sundowner is a motor yacht formerly owned by Charles Lightoller, former second officer of the RMS Titanic.

HMS Melton was a Racecourse-class minesweeper of the Royal Navy. The Racecourse class comprised 32 paddlewheel coastal minesweeping sloops.

SS <i>Monas Isle</i> (1905) Steam turbine passenger ship, 1905 to 1948

SS Mona's Isle was a steam turbine passenger ship that was built in Scotland in 1905 as Onward, renamed Mona's Isle in 1920, and scrapped in Wales in 1948. She was designed as an English Channel ferry for the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR), who operated her between Folkestone and Boulogne. In 1920 the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company (IoMSP) bought her and renamed her Mona's Isle. The IoMSP ran her mainly on summer services linking Douglas with Dublin and Belfast. She was the fourth IoMSP ship to be called Mona's Isle.

RNLB <i>Lucy Lavers</i> (ON 832)

RNLB Lucy Lavers was an RNLI lifeboat which was on No. 2 station at Aldeburgh from 1940 until 1959 when she was placed in the reserve fleet until 1968 when she was retired. The Rescue Wooden Boats Charity is currently undertaking restoration of the vessel. The Lucy Lavers is entered in the National Historic Ships register and has the Certificate No 2206.

PS Waverley was a Clyde-built paddle steamer that carried passengers on the Clyde between 1899 and 1939. She was requisitioned by the Admiralty to serve as a minesweeper during World War I and again in World War II, and was sunk while participating in the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940. The current PS Waverley, launched in 1946, was built as a replacement for this vessel.

PS <i>Eagle III</i> Clyde-built paddle steamer (1910 - 1946)

PS Eagle III was a passenger-carrying paddle steamer that was built and sailed on the Clyde, and was twice requisitioned by the Admiralty to serve as a minesweeper during the world wars.

PS <i>Duchess of Fife</i> (1903)

PS Duchess of Fife was a paddle steamer built in 1903 for the Caledonian Steam Packet Company. She spent most of her career serving passenger routes in the Firth of Clyde and was requisitioned for use as a minesweeper during both World Wars. In 1940 she took part in the Dunkirk evacuation, rescuing a total of 1,633 allied troops.

SB <i>Pudge</i> Wooden sailing barge, Dunkirk little ship

SB Pudge is a wooden Thames sailing barge, built in Rochester, Kent, England in 1922. Her hull was pitch pine on oak frame. She was originally spritsail rigged with bowsprit. An auxiliary oil engine made by The Bergius Co.Ltd of Glasgow was installed in 1932. She was used to carry various cargoes for the London & Rochester Trading Co until 1968, when she was bought out of trade by the Thames Sailing Barge Trust. Her last cargo was pineapple juice.

HMS <i>Sharpshooter</i> (J68) Minesweeper of the Royal Navy

HMS Sharpshooter was a Halcyon-class minesweeper of the British Royal Navy. Built at Devonport Dockyard, Sharpshooter was completed in 1937. She served through the Second World War, acting both in her designed role as minesweeper and as a convoy escort, escorting several Arctic convoys. She took part in the evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940, and sank the German submarine U-655 in 1942.

PS Gracie Fields built in 1936, was the last paddle steamer built for Red Funnel as a ferry and excursion steamer. She ran on the Southampton-Cowes route until the outbreak of World War II, when she was requisitioned and served as HMS Gracie Fields as a minesweeper. After successfully evacuating troops from the Dunkirk beaches, she was seriously damaged by an aircraft bomb on 29 May 1940, and sank the following morning.

PS <i>Princess Elizabeth</i> Former paddle-steamer, now restaurant in Dunkirk

PS Princess Elizabeth is a passenger-carrying paddle steamer which was built by Day, Summers and Company in 1927 for Southampton, Isle of Wight and South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Company Limited, that is noted for being one of the Little Ships of Dunkirk, and is now a static floating restaurant in Dunkirk.

References

  1. Dumpleton, Bernard (1973). The Story of the Paddlesteamer. Intellect Publishing. ISBN   1-84150-801-2 . Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  2. "Medway Queen". Association of Dunkirk Little Ships. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  3. "Medway Queen Preservation Society". Medway Queen Preservation Society. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  4. Kempton, John (2014). "The Pre War Years". Medway Queen Preservation Society. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  5. "Casualty reports". The Times. No. 45273. London. 5 August 1929. col C, p. 17.
  6. Peake, Alan. "It Was Not All Plain Sailing – The late W. G. Peake served his engineer apprenticeship with GSN and in 1919 had his first experience of a paddle steamer…". peepintopast.org. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  7. 1 2 Colledge, J J (1970). Ships of the Royal Navy: An Historical Index - Volume 2. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 232. ISBN   978-1853670282.
  8. 1 2 3 Kempton, John (2014). "The War Years". Medway Queen Preservation Society. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kempton, John. "Dunkirk - Operation Dynamo 1940". Medway Queen Preservation Society. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Mace, Martin (30 July 2017). The Royal Navy at Dunkirk: Commanding Officers' Reports of British Warships In Action During Operation Dynamo. Frontline Books. ISBN   978-1473886728.
  11. 1 2 War & Peace Show 2010 Official Programme. Edon Publishing. 2010. p. 14.
  12. "900 British Craft in the Dunkirk Operations". The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Mercury . 4 June 1940.
  13. "Minesweeper "Lost" - Now Safe". The Evening Telegraph . 4 June 1940.
  14. "No. 34925". The London Gazette . 16 August 1940. p. 5064.
  15. "No. 34925". The London Gazette . 16 August 1940. p. 5067.
  16. "No. 34925". The London Gazette . 16 August 1940. p. 5072.
  17. "Medway Queen". National Historic Ships UK. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  18. "Medway Queen". Tramscape. Archived from the original on 2 September 2009. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  19. Kempton, John (2014). "The Post War Years". Medway Queen Preservation Society. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  20. 1 2 Kempton, John (2014). "Isle of Wight". Medway Queen Preservation Society. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  21. Chambers, Noreen (2014). "Early Preservation Years". Medway Queen Preservation Society. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  22. 1 2 Kempton, John (2014). "Rebuilding the Hull". Medway Queen Preservation Society. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  23. Robinson, Hayley (10 October 2008). "Crowning moment for Historic Queen". Medway Extra, Larkfield, Kent.
  24. "Dunkirk rescue boat gets revamp". BBC News Online. 17 April 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
  25. "Rededication of the Medway Queen". The Medway Queen Preservation Society. Archived from the original on 9 September 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  26. 1 2 "Rebuilt Medway Queen Journey To Kent". GMB Newsroom. 21 October 2013. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
  27. Williams, Sam (24 July 2021). "Medway Queen ship awaits refurbishment project at Ramsgate harbour". Kent Online. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  28. Mercantile Navy List. London. 1925. p. 351. Retrieved 18 March 2024 via Crew List Index Project.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  29. 1 2 "Lloyd's Register, Navires a Vapeur et a Moteurs" (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1944. Retrieved 17 April 2009 via Southampton City Council.
  30. Lloyd's Register of Shipping, Register Book 1949-1950, Vol.II M-Z. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1949. Retrieved 18 March 2024 via Internet Archive.
  31. Sutton, Ken. "List of Ship's Names with Callsigns and Pendant Numbers - M" (PDF). Radio Callsigns. Fareham: RN Communications Branch Museum & Library. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 February 2024. Retrieved 18 March 2024.

51°23′53″N0°33′18″E / 51.39806°N 0.55500°E / 51.39806; 0.55500