Visiting the Medway Queen

PicoMicroYacht recently visited the Medway Queen at Gillingham in the Medway Estuary.

The Medway Queen moored in Gillingham

This is of the of the most iconic British paddle steamers to be built in the 20^th Century. At the bottom of this post is a short video of her involvement in the second world war and also the link with my great Uncle Commander Kenneth Greig.

The Medway Queen launched in 1924 and used as passenger ferry when in 1940 it was commandeered for minesweeping operation as part of a flotilla working off Dover. That year it also helped out with the evacuation of British and French troops from Dunkirk. After the war it returned to being a ferry until 1963, and ended up being used for a night club at the Island marina on the Isle of wight, being then rescued from a dilapidated state and now returned to the Medway estuary.

I feel connected to this boat because my Great Uncle, Commander Kenneth Greig was in charge of the Dover mine sweeping flotilla that that included the Medway Queen. He directed operations from a large paddle steamer, the Sandown, an Isle of White passenger ferry. The flotilla consisted of these two boats, together with PS Brighton Belle and PS Gracie Fields.

The Sandown, commanded by Kenneth Greig

My uncle took considerable risk clearing the Dover straight of mines at a time when German Luftwaffe flew the short distance across the English Channel to dive bomb the British shipping  as they passed through. He was comforted by Sandown’s lucky mascot, a dachshund dog called ‘Bombproof Bella’.

The Luftwaffe dive bombing British ships off Dover in 1940

On the Tuesday 28^th May 1940, the situation in Dunkirk was desperate and the flotilla was diverted to sail there to evacuate troop. The Sandown was the first to reach Dunkirk and too about 200 troops. The Brighton Belle was sunk by a mine, the Medway Queen on hand to pick up the 800 or so men as she slowly sank. The next day, Gracie Fields was sunk by the Luftwaffe (not by a mine as indicated in my video below) with differing accounts, either that she sank slowly, her rudder damaged or that took a direct hit and went down quickly.

The Medway Queen at war

The two ships left kept going. On 31^st May the Sandown rescued a boat with 250 troops, stranded on the Goodwin Sands. It then went off to Bray, east of Dunkirk and was under shelling from Nieuwpoort and with air attacks, which caused it to move position to throw off the range. Two parachuted magnetic mines  were dropped close to her. Eventually, by midnight she moved off with 900 British troops.

A trip was made by the Medway Queen on Sunday 2^nd June. This trip was in the late evening and with their commander and crew exhausted, such that Commander Greig went aboard and offered to take over to relieve the officers for the night.

Initially this was flatly refused but a compromise was reached in which Commander Greig’s party would take the ship across the channel and then return the command for her to be taken in. She arrived alongside a Mole at 1.30 am  and took 723 French soldiers off by ladder, being shelled continuously, but to no effect.

Troops loading from the Mole

After this on the following day the Medway Queen made her 7^th and final trip, receiving French soldiers. As the troops embarked a shell hit a ship astern which then crashed into the Medway Queen damaging her starboard paddle box. She limped home, the end of her finest hour.

Just after Dunkirk, the commander of the Medway Queen was awarded the DSC and Commander Greig the DSO.

Further details about the Medway Queen can be found on the Preservation Trust website: https://www.medwayqueen.co.uk/