Showing how the Medway Queen's aft saloon looked
while at the Isle of Wight.
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THERE ARE NO SURVIVING PADDLERS OF THE EARLY TYPE OTHER THAN THE
MEDWAY QUEEN

The Medway Queen gave pleasure and occupation to a great many people during her service career. She was a regular feature of the Medway and Thames Estuary scene, and is still remembered with affection by the people who knew her, who travelled on her and who were involved with her during the Second World War.

Her service to the country during the Second World War is a remarkable as it is heroic and she could, and ought to, stand as a symbol of bravery and a memorial to the men of Dunkirk. She has been threatened with destruction by the enemy and by neglect and has been sunk and rescued several times. She is, nevertheless, still with us. She is a survivor and an important fragment of our heritage and she ought to be saved.

Medway Queen as a minesweeper 1939-45
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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 was 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 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 Nightclub on the Isle of Wight. 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.

Drawing of Medway Queen on the pontoon on the River Medway
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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 the only Estuary Pleasure paddle steamer left in the UK today, she is of National Importance, and therefor should be included on to the "Core Collection" for Historic Ships, sadly left on the "Designated List" where she does not belong.

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.


Painting of HMS Medway Queen at Dunkirk
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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.
The Nation has been thrown a life line in a possible new hull, the story is just beginning, we now need funds for her second stage, finale restorations. It is still going to be down to the people at the end of the day.