22 I World of Ships I Paddle Steamers
T
wo of the 23 paddle steamers
offi cially recorded as taking
part in Operation Dynamo,
the evacuation of 338,226
troops from Dunkirk and
beaches to the east running
up towards the Belgian
border in a nine-day spell from 27 May to
4 June 1940, have survived into the 21st
century. Medway Queen, now at Gillingham
on the Medway, is undergoing a painstaking
restoration, with the ultimate objective of
a return to service under her own power.
Meanwhile, former Isle of Wight ferry Princess
Elizabeth lies in Dunkirk itself, without engine
or boiler, owned by the local authority and
with a new restaurant venture beginning on
board in summer 2017.DUNKIRK VETERANS
MEDWAY QUEEN AND
PRINCESS ELIZABETH
ABOVE Medway Queen at Ramsgate for the
Dunkirk Evacuation 75th anniversary events in 2015.Medway Queen being fl oated out
of her dry dock in October 2013,
prior to starting her journey back to
Gillingham. (John Hannavy)MeDWaY QUeen
The 316gt Medway Queen, built and engined
by Ailsa Shipbuilding in Troon, Scotland,
joined the New Medway Steam Packet
Company’s fl eet in 1924. Carrying up to 980
passengers, she was placed on the Rochester-
Southend-Clacton run before beginning a long
association with Herne Bay excursions. There
was conversion of the two-cylinder compound
diagonal powered vessel’s boiler to oil fuel in
1938, before the start of World War II cut short
the 1939 season, and the steamer was called
up in September 1939. Following a fi t-out in
Deptford Creek, she joined the eight-strong
Dover-based 10th Minesweeping Flotilla,
with fellow paddlers Sandown, Gracie Fields,
Emperor of India, Thames Queen, Princess01 Paddlers_Britain_NL.indd 22 17/04/2018 09:21