paddlesteamers.info : The Internet's leading website for
Side-Wheeled Paddle Steamers
Thames
Estuary, River Medway, Kent, Essex and East Anglia Coast, England,
U.K.
New Medway Steam
Packet Co Ltd
Formed
in
1919 out of the Medway Steam Packet Company which had been in
operation since 1881 and traced its origins back to 1837. Their
operations had ceased when their two paddlers, Princess of Wales and
City of Rochester has been taken over by the Admiralty during World
War I. The new company was to embark on a period of rapid growth, with
two more vessels, the small PS Audrey originally from Bournemouth and
owned by Captain Sydney Shippick, a driving force behind the new
company, and
the well known Thames steamer Queen of the South (ex-Woolwich Belle).
They also ordered PS Medway Queen new for the 1924 season and in 1925
bought PS Walton Belle which joined the fleet as Essex Queen.
Continued expansion at the end of the 1920s saw two ex - naval
minesweepers purchased (Queen of Thanet and Queen of Kent), and yet
another "Belle" steamer, Yarmouth Belle which became Queen of
Southend. In 1933 and 1934 the purchasing was to continue with the
screw steamer Royal Daffodil brought from its Mersey Ferry routine to
run cruises around London Docks and the Southern Railway's PS Duchess
of Kent spending one season with the Rochester-based company in 1934
as PS Clacton Queen.
By this time, the New Medway Company was running services along the
Kent Coast, up into East Anglia and across the English Channel to
France. They had also extended their reach to London rather than
starting services from the Medway.
The positive policies of this expansionary company were underlined
when they ordered the first major coastal vessel to be powered by
diesels, with the Dumbarton yard of Denny delivering MV Queen of the
Channel in 1935 for use on the cross-channel route. The success of
this vessel prompted the ordering of further diesel powered
tonnage.
The strong position achieved by the Medway company was enough to
cause severe concern to the General Steam Navigation Company, which
had, over the years, seen competitors come and go whilst itself
surviving the financial difficulties generally associated with
steamship owning. In 1937, the GSN purchased a majority shareholding
in the New Medway Company and effectively bought out what was
appearing to become the greatest potential threat of them all.
After 1937, the New Medway Steam Packet Company retained nominal
independence but operated as a subsidiary of the GSN. Until the end
of the 1963 season, the famous paddler Medway Queen, proudly carried
the company's name as a substantial cruising presence was maintained
at the Medway ports.
Above
: Medway Queen was the last paddle steamer to serve on the Thames
estuary, retiring after the 1963 season until the era of operation
preservation began. She was a sole survivor of the flush-deck style
which ended in the 1920s . Photo by Gillon Ferguson at Southend in 1960
Vessels of the Medway
Steam Packet
Company
City of Rochester (1920 - lost during World War II)
Princess of Wales (1920-1925)
Second Hand
Purchases
Audrey
Queen of the South (1924-1932)
Essex Queen
(1925-1945)
Queen of Thanet
(1929-1949)
Queen of Kent (1928-1949)
Queen of Southend /
Thames Queen (1929-1948)
Clacton Queen
(1934-1935)
Screw Steamer : Royal Daffodil (1934-1938)
New
Build
Medway Queen (1924-1963)
Motor vessels
MV Queen of the Channel
(1935-1939)
MV Royal Sovereign
(1937-1939)
New Build after 1937 - as a subsidiary of the
General Steam Navigation
Co
MV Royal Daffodil
MV Queen of the Channel
MV Royal Sovereign
Return
to:
General Steam Navigation Co
River Thames Historical