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Paddle Steamers past and present
Thames
Estuary, River Medway, Kent, Essex and East Anglia Coast, England,
U.K.
General Steam Navigation
Company
The General Steam
Navigation Company traces its history back to 1824 and in the 1960s
it was absorbed into the shipping conglomerate P&O which
continues to provide car ferry services between the U.K and France,
one of the specialities of the GSN company.
The GSN was always a diversified shipping operation with deep sea
interests as well as its excursion business in the Thames Estuary.
This led to a financial stability which allowed it to outlast its
competitors, although for short periods of time, Belle Steamers and
the Victoria Steamboat Association were able to outclass it with
their newer vessels.
The backbone of the GSN's services were the five so-called "Classical
Birds" built between 1887 and 1889 which immediately preceded such
luxurious but ultimately financially crippling vessels such as
Victoria's PS La Marguerite.
Unsuccessfully experimenting with a turbine steamer (Kingfisher of
1906), GSN reverted to paddlers in 1909 and with three "Eagle"
steamers built between 1909 and 1932, they came to dominate the
excursion trade on the Essex and north Kent coasts. In 1937, the GSN
effectively took over the New Medway Steam Packet Company, which had
become its major competitor after the First World War and the two
fleets, whilst nominally independent, were thereafter operated in
association with each other.
The 1930s saw the introduction of a number of large pleasure steamers
(although diesel power became the chosen method of propulsion) and
despite severe wartime losses, the GSN provided services very much as
throughout the previous years until the end of 1966, when it was
announced that they were withdrawing from the trade.
Important
Pre-World War I vessels on GSN's coastal services
PS Hoboken
(1873-1898)
PS Halcyon (1887-1906)
PS Mavis (1888-1909)
PS Oriole (1888-1912)
PS Laverock (1889-1908)
PS Philomel (1889-1907)
PS Eagle (1898-1928)
TS Kingfisher (1906-1912)
PS Golden Eagle (1909-1951)
1918-1937 New
Build
PS
Crested Eagle (1925-1939)
PS Royal Eagle (1932-1953)
1918-1939 Second Hand
Purchases
PS
Royal Sovereign (1929-1930)
PS Isle of Arran (1934-1936)
PS Laguna Belle
(1936-1946)
New Medway Steam
Packet Co fleet
(1937)
PS
City of Rochester (to 1939 - lost during World War II)
PS Queen of Southend (to
1939 - not reconditioned after war)
PS Medway Queen (to 1964)
PS Clacton Queen
PS Essex Queen (to
1939 - sold after release from wartime duty)
PS Queen of Thanet (to
1949)
PS Queen of Kent (to 1949)
PS Royal Daffodil
Motor vessels :
MV Queen of the Channel (to
1939)
MV Royal Sovereign (to 1939)
New Build 1939 in
association with the
New Medway Steam
Packet Co
MV Royal Daffodil
Post 1945 New Build
(GSN)
MV Queen of the Channel
MV Royal Sovereign
Post World War II, the
GSN service was provided by PS Golden Eagle, PS Royal Eagle and MV
Royal Daffodil
MV Royal Sovereign and MV Queen of the Channel were built to replace
wartime losses of ships of the same name.
The New Medway Steam Packet Co's post-war service was undertaken by
PS Queen of Kent (sold 1948) and PS Queen of Thanet (sold 1948) and
PS Medway Queen (withdrawn in 1963).
GSN/NMSP purchased two smaller motor vessels, ex-landing craft
Rochester Queen and MV Crested Eagle (ex-Royal Lady, built 1938) for
shorter runs.
Rochester Queen was bought late in 1948 primarily for the
Sheerness-Herne Bay run. She was sold to German owners in 1956.
Crested Eagle was in the fleet from 1948 until 1957 before moving to
Maltese waters as MV Imperial Eagle and surviving until scrapped in
1974.
PS Golden Eagle (in 1949) and PS Royal Eagle (1950) were withdrawn
soon after the introduction of the new tonnage. Royal Eagle, at 292
feet was, by this time, the largest operational paddler in the UK,
but uneconomic to run and taken out of service after a very short
life.
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