Two Queens
Richard Halton’s latest book, “Two Queens”, details the history of two excursion vessels operated by the New Medway Steam Packet Co. in the 1930s and for a while after the war. PS Queen of Kent and PS Queen of Thanet were both built as Racecourse class paddle minesweepers in 1916. They were sold out of naval service in the late ’20s for the excursion trade and then requisitioned again in 1939 to sweep mines once more. One went to Dunkirk in 1940 and the other survived a very close encounter with a V2 missile in 1945! After the war they were converted back to being excursion vessels and were briefly operated by NMSPCo. once again, before being sold on to Red Funnel. Sadly, they were both scrapped in the early 1950s.
The book is A4 format and tells their stories from build to final withdrawal, with 72 pages and more photos than the author expected to find!
