The Paddle Steamer Medway Queen was built at Troon in Scotland, by the
Ailsa Yard in 1924, for service on the River Medway and the Thames Estuary. Right from the time she was built, she was recognised as one of the finest examples of Scotland's shipbuilding craft.
She is a classic "estuary" paddle steamer approx., 180ft in length and 316
tons gross,134 tons net weight. Construction is steel plate riveted on frames. 24 feet beam with 50 feet beam over paddle frames. Normal draught 5 feet 6 inches, Her passenger load was about 800 persons,
Her engine is compound diagonal steam, built by Ailsa. Her speed was 13
knots at 45rpm,15 knots maximum at 55rpm. Her boiler was Scotch type 11 feet long, fitted with triple furnaces, coal fired when built, her yard No PS 388.
Her regular route was from Chatham and Strood, on the River Medway, to
Sheerness, Southend, Herne Bay and at times Margate and also as far as
Clacton, all on the Thames Estuary and return daily.
She was a day time pleasure steamer operating from piers at her various
ports of call. She was part of the "Queen Line" fleet of the New Medway
Steam Packet Company based at Rochester, Kent. In 1937 she attended the Coronation Review at Spithead. In 1938 she was converted from coal to oil burning, by Wallsend Engineering, a fact which was later to be of significance in her record number of crossings to the beaches of
Dunkirk in 1940, where she rescued 7000 men during seven trips, gaining
four awards for gallantry, having shot down three enemy aircraft.
In 1939 she carried children evacuated from Kent to East Anglia, and joined the Royal Navy as a minesweeper No J 48 (N 48) serving for the duration of the war in the 10th minesweeping flotilla in the English Channel.
After the war in 1947 she was returned to her owners, and civilian role. This was after a rebuild at Thorneycrofts, of Southampton. In 1953 She once again attended a Review at Spithead, for the Coronation of Elizabeth the Second.
In 1963 she was taken out of service, with the possibility of being broken up. After great public outcry, and a press campaign, she was saved when sold and opened as a marina clubhouse on the Isle of Wight (1966). She became a victim of her own success, when she was replaced by the Paddle Steamer Ryde, being a larger ship, which the owners said was needed. In the 1970s she was moved to the River Medina, and then was sunk by accident.
After being partly submerged for sometime, she was raised in 1984 and towed back to the River Medway on a pontoon, by her new owners. She was unfortunately abandon,only to sink again against the Chatham Dockyard wall.
It was shortly after this that the Medway Queen Preservation Society was
formed in 1985, with the intention of preserving this historical ship.
It took a further two years to remove the mud that had accumulated over the years of her sinking, and then to patch the holes in the hull. This was
eventually achieved, and a site was found at Kingsnorth, on the Hoo
Peninsular, called Damhead Creek.
The ship was raised and it was moved to her new home in 1987. It is here that we have worked to keep the ship in a condition to enable us to restore her eventually The founder members of the society felt that this ship represented a very important part of the commercial and maritime history of the river Medway. She recalled a period in the history of Medway when paddles were a common sight and the leisure-tourist day tripper industry was of great importance. The paddle steamers not only gave employment in construction, maintenance,repair, operation and servicing but also brought prestige to their operating areas. The paddle steamer fleets were well known and people were proud of them.
The Medway Queen is one of the very few paddle steamers left in the UK.
This ship should now be on the 'Core List' of historical ships for preservation, and not on the 'Designated List' as it is at present.
That the feeling has grown and developed in others is shown by the steady increase in our membership over the past few years and by the interest and approval of the local and national press and media.
Are we as a nation going to watch the Medway Queen know as the "Heroine of Dunkirk" founder for all time, it will be a time of great shame if a nation that seems to hold its maritime history so important allows this to happen
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