PS Medway Queen is famous, not only for her time as an excursion steamer or her years as a night club on the Isle of Wight, but also for her service in the Second World War. She swept mines in the Channel and in the North Sea and went on to train recruits in the technicalities of minesweeping in the latter years of the war. Mostly, though, she is known for her seven trips to Dunkirk during Operation Dynamo in 1940, where she was in the thick of the action on seven nights in an eight-night period.
The Remembrance weekend onboard Medway Queen at Gillingham Pier was marked by the ship’s “Saturday Team” who open the vessel to the public and conduct guided tours around the ship. Given Medway Queen’s wartime career and, especially, her fantastic achievements in the Dunkirk Evacuation, marking this occasion is especially poignant and important to the team.
Medway Queen is moored at Gillingham Pier on the river Medway and is open to visitors on Saturdays (11am to 4pm, last admission 3pm) until 13 December when the normal open hours will be followed by a Carol Concert – see www.medwayqueen.co.uk . Next year’s open Saturdays begin on 14 February, after a brief winter shutdown.
