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.[3] In May 1940 Operation Dynamo was launched to rescue retreating British Army soldiers from Dunkirk in northern France. HMS Medway Queen became part of the flotilla of little ships.[11] She left with paddle steamers Sandown, Thames Queen, Gracie Fields, Queen of Thanet, PS Princess Elizabeth, Laguna Belle and Brighton Belle.[11] She made seven crossings.[11] On her second trip she took about 450 soldiers directly off the beach;[12] this required more skill, but was much faster. Soldiers used a technique with oily bags to conceal their distinctive wash from patrolling aircraft. On later trips, the Medway Queen penetrated the damaged Dunkirk port and took off men from a concrete jetty or mole.[11] Men were discharged at Ramsgate rather than Dover, where the vessel was fuelled and reprovisioned.[11] On Monday 3 June Vice Admiral Ramsey gave the order that all ships were to leave Dunkirk by 2.30 the following morning. This was the Medway Queen's seventh trip. She was at the mole in Dunkirk when a destroyer moored astern of her was driven forwards by an explosion and smashed her starboard paddle box, she sustained considerable damage.[11] Medway Queen limped back to Dover with 400 French soldiers on board. On arriving back at Dover the crew of the Medway Queen discovered that the Admiralty had reported their ship as having been sunk (news which was reported throughout the UK);[14] the Admiralty published a correction the following morning.[15] Her crew gained seven awards for gallantry – two Distinguished Service Crosses,[16] three Distinguished Service Medals[17] and two mentions in dispatches[18] – having made seven crossings and rescued 7,000 men.[11] In view of this remarkable achievement in rescuing so many Allied troops from France, she earned the title of "The Heroine of Dunkirk".[13] After repairs in Portsmouth Dockyard, she returned to minesweeping duties, and in 1942 she was converted to a minesweeping training ship, serving out the war in this capacity, and was returned to her owners in January 1946.[10][9] She made her last sailing on 8 September 1963,[19] and was scheduled to be scrapped in Belgium.[20] The Belgian ship-breaker, upon discovering that the vessel he was expecting to break up was "The Heroine of Dunkirk", declined to continue (it is reported that he felt that no one should dare to destroy such a gallant and important little ship). The Daily Mail campaigned to save her.[21] In 2025 it was announced that, for about eleven days in May, the Medway Queen would be a centrepiece at Ramsgate harbour during the 85th Anniversary of Operation Dynamo. She was expected to see off around 70 Little Ships, accompanied by naval warships,[30] which planned to cross the Channel to Dunkirk on 21 May, and to welcome their return to Ramsgate on 26 May, weather permitting.[31][32][33] 1940 – became part of the flotilla of ships evacuating British Army soldiers from Dunkirk during Operation Dynamo. After making seven trips (the record number of crossings by any merchant navy ship involved in the evacuation), she rescued over 7,000 men, gaining for the ship's crew seven awards for gallantry, and shot down three enemy aircraft. At one time during the evacuation, she was overdue and was thought to have been lost with all hands and troops – but she eventually arrived back at Dover, ready to return to France for more troops. The efforts of the ship and her crew earned the paddle steamer the title of "Heroine of Dunkirk" 1963 – taken out of service, with the possibility of being broken up, but the Belgian shipbreaker declined to break up the "Heroine of Dunkirk" ↑ .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#bf3c2c)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#bf3c2c)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}"Medway Queen". adls.org.uk. Association of Dunkirk Little Ships. 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2025. ↑ "Medway Queen". Association of Dunkirk Little Ships. Retrieved 18 September 2021. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kempton, John. "Dunkirk - Operation Dynamo 1940". Medway Queen Preservation Society. Retrieved 13 January 2022. 1 2 3 4 Mace, Martin (30 July 2017). The Royal Navy at Dunkirk: Commanding Officers' Reports of British Warships In Action During Operation Dynamo. Frontline Books. ISBN 978-1-4738-8672-8. ↑ "900 British Craft in the Dunkirk Operations". The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Mercury. 4 June 1940. ↑ "Minesweeper "Lost" - Now Safe". The Evening Telegraph. 4 June 1940. ↑ "Dunkirk rescue boat gets revamp". BBC News Online. 17 April 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2009. ↑ Lawrie, Sam (9 May 2025). "70 Dunkirk Little Ships to sail from Ramsgate Royal Harbour to Dunkirk for the 85th anniversary of Operation Dynamo". Kent Online. Retrieved 11 May 2025. ↑ "Medway Queen Dunkirk Commemoration 2025". allatsea.co.uk. All At Sea. March 2025. Retrieved 11 May 2025. ↑ "85th Anniversary of Operation Dynamo, Ramsgate" (PDF). visitramsgate.co.uk. Visit Ramsgate. 2025. Retrieved 11 May 2025. ↑ "Medway Queen to return to Ramsgate for Dunkirk Commemoration". nationalhistoricships.org.uk. National Historic Ships UK. Retrieved 11 May 2025.