Medway Queen
This vessel was a sister ship to the Queen of Thanet, which operated from Granton in World War II.
The Medway Queen. Photo courtesy MQPS Collection
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Queen of Thanet and Queen of Kent were owned by the same company as Medway Queen and went back to the Thames estuary briefly after the war before being sold on.
Medway Queen was built in 1924 and joined the 10th minesweeping flotilla in 1939. She was stationed at Harwich and later in Dover. The 10th were one of the first units sent to Dunkirk and Medway Queen is famous for her part in the evacuation. After Dunkirk she was refitted and found her way to Tyneside. From there, at some time, she was assigned a training role and was part of HMS Lochinvar at Granton where she remained until the end of the war. Presumably this was after 1943 when Lochinvar moved to Granton. Her subsequent history was back to the Thames estuary until 1963 and then for some years as a nightclub on the Isle of Wight. This was followed by the usual period of dereliction but now she is being rebuilt.
