The United Kingdom’s last estuary paddle steamer, the Medway Queen, is preparing for a historic return to Medway thanks to European funding secured by Medway Council.
The Medway Queen restoration project, led by the Medway Queen Preservation Society and supported by Medway Council, will see the ship return to the waters of the River Medway next year.
This is really good news for those who remember how this ship, was at one time forgotten and neglected.
PS Medway Queen is the last estuary pleasure paddle steamer in the UK.
She was built in 1924 on the Clyde.
Used as a pleasure craft until she was commissioned as a minesweeper during World War Two, she became well known as one of the ‘little ship’ and she rescued around 7,000 men from the beaches of Dunkirk in seven crossings.
After World War Two she returned to being a pleasure steamer on the River Thames and Medway, until she was decommissioned in 1963.
For many years she was threatened with the scrap yard, and then used a a nightclub on The River Medina in the Isle Of Wight, until being rescued, and now, being restored in a Bristol Shipyard. She will soon return to Medway for more restoration work.
Read more at this Medway Council Press Release
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