The Final Cruise of the Paddle Steamer Medway Queen
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- Опубликовано: 19 май 2018
- Paddle Steamer Medway Queen was built at the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company in Troon, Scotland, in 1924 at a cost of £21,500 for service on the 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. She steamed the Thames on the routes from Strood and Chatham, to Sheerness, Herne Bay and Margate in Kent; and Clacton and Southend in Essex.
A bow rudder was later fitted, in 1936, to better enable the ship to manoeuvre in harbour and the boiler was replaced and converted to oil firing in 1938. The new boiler was constructed by Wallsend Slipway and Engineering Company in Newcastle and installed in Chatham Dockyard.
Requisitioned by the Royal Navy as a minesweeper, she was renumbered No N 48 (1939-1942) and later J 48 (1942-1947), serving for the duration of World War II in the 10th minesweeping flotilla, protecting the English Channel.
On Monday 3 June Vice Admiral Ramsey gave the order that all ships were to leave Dunkirk by 14.30 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. Medway Queen limped back to Dover with 400 French soldiers on board. By then, she had rescued 7,000 men.
In view of this remarkable achievement in rescuing so many Allied troops from France, she earned the title of "The Heroine of Dunkirk". In 1942 she was converted to a mine sweeping training ship, and served out the war in this capacity.
Return to service
Rebuilt by Thorneycrofts of Southampton in 1946, she returned to civilian service with New Medway Steam Packet Company for the 1947 season. When Elizabeth II was crowned, PS Medway Queen attended the 1953 Coronation Review at Spithead.
She made her last sailing on 9th September 1963, and was scheduled to be scrapped in Belgium. The Belgian ship-breaker, upon discovering that the vessel he was expecting to break up was none other than "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 newspaper campaigned to save her.
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.
Preservation
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. In 1985 the Medway Queen Preservation Society formed, with the intention of preserving the historic ship.
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. Having completed the fund raising, the trust was disappointed that neither the insurance company nor marine engineers were confident that her hull was seaworthy and able of sustaining 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.
Rebuilding the hull
In October 2008, the society signed a contract with David Abels Shipbuilders to restore the hull at the Albion Dry Dock in Bristol. This to be done using plate riveting by a team of 10, and was envisaged to take two years. Work began in April 2009 and was due to be completed in the summer of 2010. On 27 July 2013 the ship was rededicated.
At around 3pm on Friday 15 November 2013 the Medway Queen departed Avonmouth towed by the tug Christine. Benefiting from the good weather the tow continued throughout the weekend with her arriving back on her home territory on the River Medway 2 days later. She is now moored at Gillingham Pier.
For more info visit: www.medwayqueen.co.uk/
Glad to see progress on the restoration of the Medway Queen esp the rebuild of her hull. I enjoyed this 1963 footage
Fabulous footage, thank you. I used to sail on her with my parents in the 1950's and 60's.
Probably the best film of Herne Bay pier, and the Medway Queen. I went on the Medway Queen in 1962 to Southend on Sea and to Rochester and 2017 Heritage Open Day at Gillingham. I also went on it when it was at Damhead Creek, Kingsnorth on the Hoo Peninsula it was also on a Heritage Open Day... just waiting for a journey when its under power... memories recalled from the sixties. (not forgetting the Ken Russell film French Dressing.... was at the filming at Herne Bay too)
Whereabouts in Southend did you dock? Paddle steamers stopped docking at the pier around 1953/4 as I can remember being taken to see the last one docking- the pier of course was full length and we were on the lower decks...
@@Kirritoo The Paddle steamer docked at the end of Southend pier and I remember going on the pier railway, also my visit to the kursaal ( think the spelling correct ) original size not the reduced... when it was time to get the train to the boat my mum made sure that there was ample time as I believe it was raining, not exactly the weather to sit on deck and not the weather for the long walk from the landing stage in Rochester to the train to take us home to Herne Bay....
@@Kirritoo We lived at Southend and all the steamer trips in the 1950's and 60's were taken from the pier head, as always. Waverley still does in the season.
Brilliant! Thank you for posting
This elegant vessel should be restored to steam sailing condition again! Maybe with an environment friendly hydrogen boiler