 PS Medway Queen, Gillingham Pier 2016
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Medway Queen |
| Owner |
|
| Port of registry |  Rochester |
| Builder | Ailsa Shipbuilding Company, Troon, Scotland |
| Yard number | PS 388 |
| Launched | Wednesday 23 April 1924 |
| In service | 1924 |
| Out of service | 1964 |
| Identification |
|
| Nickname(s) | Heroine of Dunkirk |
| Status | Under restoration as a museum ship |
| Notes | Sea trials 1924 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Paddle steamer |
| Tonnage | 316 GRT |
| Displacement | 134 tonnes[citation needed] |
| Length | 179 ft 9 in (54.79 m) |
| Beam |
|
| Draught | 7 ft 8 in (2.34 m) |
| Installed power | 76 hp (57 kW) [1] Scotch type boiler 11 feet long, fitted with triple furnaces feeding Ailsa built compound diagonal steam engine. Coal fired when built, converted to oil fired by Wallsend Engineering in 1938, built by Ailsa |
| Propulsion | Paddles |
| Speed |
|
| Armament | 1 × 12-pounder gun, 2 × machine guns (HMS Medway Queen) |
The PS Medway Queen is a paddle driven steamship, the only mobile estuary paddle steamer left in the United Kingdom. She was one of the "little ships of Dunkirk", making a record seven trips and rescuing 7,000 men in the evacuation of Dunkirk.[2]
She was the subject of a £1.8 million National Lottery Heritage Memorial Fund grant to restore her hull. By 2014, her hull had been reconstructed and she is berthed at Gillingham Pier on the River Medway as of 2022[update]. In 2024, she celebrated her centenary.[3]
- ^ Dumpleton, Bernard (1973). The Story of the Paddlesteamer. Intellect Publishing. ISBN 1-84150-801-2. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
- ^ "Medway Queen". Association of Dunkirk Little Ships. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
- ^ "Medway Queen Preservation Society". Medway Queen Preservation Society. Retrieved 2 May 2024.