PS Medway Queen was requisitioned for the Royal Navy and converted for minesweeping in 1939. When the Dunkirk Evacuation began in May 1940 she was part of the 10th flotilla, based in Dover.
The ship and her crew made seven trips in all rescuing thousands of men from the beaches and East Mole of Dunkirk Harbour. During this operation she mainly worked out of Ramsgate, landing her evacuees in Margate on just one occasion.
In 2015 Medway Queen was towed to Ramsgate to participate in the 75th anniversary commemoration, and it is planned to repeat that operation for the 85th anniversary. The ship is currently moored at Gillingham Pier, Medway, where she is undergoing restoration. Medway Queen will be open to visitors at Gillingham Pier until 3 May, after which preparation for the journey begins in earnest.
If the plan works, on 14 May the PS Medway Queen will be leaving Gillingham Pier to journey (under tow) to Ramsgate, arriving on 15 May and mooring alongside Commercial Quay. She will then be the centerpiece of an event that is being organised by the Royal Temple Yacht Club to commemorate the 85th anniversary of Dunkirk.
She will stay in Ramsgate for about 12 days, hosting formal receptions on board and welcoming members of the public as and when the tides allow safe access. There will be a service at St George’s Church following a parade from the harbour on 18 May and also one for dignitaries in the Sailors Chapel in the harbour on 20 May.
She will watch the Little Ships leave the harbour on their way to Dunkirk on 21 May and will also be there when they return a few days later. While the Little Ships are in Dunkirk, Medway Queen will continue to be open to visitors as permitted by the tides.
She will return at the end of the month and re-open on Gillingham Pier on the 7 June.
Can you help? The Medway Queen Preservation Society is looking for sponsors to contribute to the cost of moving the ship. Some support has already been pledged but more is always needed. Additional volunteers to assist with the expected numbers of visitors will also be welcome, but please note that volunteers working on the ship are expected to join the Medway Queen Preservation Society for administrative and insurance purposes. Contact Pam Bathurst at the society’s base via info@medwayqueen.co.uk or 01634 559832.
The Medway Queen Preservation Society’s popular book “HMS Medway Queen – Memories of Dunkirk” was reprinted last year, in cooperation with Mainline and Maritime publishers and will be on sale in Ramsgate. The book is packed with first-hand accounts of the operation from HMS Medway Queen’s officers and men and from troops picked up by the ship.
