28 Jul 10 Historic ship is set to return to Medway
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
Tags: beaches, crossings, dunkirk, isle of wight, medway council, medway queen preservation society, minesweeper, paddle steamer, pleasure craft, restoration work, river medina, river medway, river thames, scrap yard, shipyard, world war two
19 May 08 Wade Hampton
Wade Hampton III, born in 1818, was a Confederate cavalryman in the Civil War, rising to the rank of Lieutenant-General.
He had been active in politics before the war, and returned to it, an embittered man, afterwards. He became a leading fighter against Republican Reconstruction in the south, he went in to serve again in the Senate, and was also the US Railroad Commissioner for a time, having been appointed by President Grover Cleveland.
During World War Two a liberty ship was named for him – the SS Wade Hampton.
The monument to him in this photograph is situated in Marion Square, Charleston, SC
Tags: cavalryman, charleston sc, civil war, grover cleveland, liberty ship, lieutenant general, photograph, president grover cleveland, railroad commissioner, reconstruction, senate, ss, wade hampton, world war two
