MV Royal Daffodil (1939)

Last updated

StateLibQld 1 169887 Royal Daffodil (ship).jpg
Royal Daffodil in the Upper Pool, London
History
Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
NameMV Royal Daffodil
Owner General Steam Navigation Co. Ltd.
OperatorGeneral Steam Navigation Co. Ltd
Port of registryLondon
Builder William Denny and Sons, Dumbarton.
Yard number1330 [1]
Launched24 January 1939 [1]
CompletedMay 1939 [2]
In service1939
Identification
FateScrapped 1967
General characteristics
Tonnage2,060 GRT
Length299 ft 7 in (91.31 m) [2]
Beam50 ft 1 in (15.27 m) [2]
Depth9 ft 9 in (2.97 m) [2]
Propulsion2 x SCSA diesel engines (Wm Denny & Bros Ltd, Dumbarton) 841 hp (627 kW), Twin screws [2]
Speed21 knots (39 km/h)
Capacity2,073 passengers

MV Royal Daffodil was built in 1939 and scrapped in 1967. In the late 1950s and early to mid 1960s she was used for "no passport" trips to France, which enabled people to drink outside normal licensing hours as these did not apply at sea.

Contents

History

Royal Daffodil was launched in 1939, the third ship to carry that name. The first was a Mersey ferry built in 1906 as Daffodil and taken over by the Royal Navy during World War I, playing a key role in the Zeebrugge Raid of 1918. She was subsequently granted the Royal prefix by King George V for her war service. [3] She was sold in October 1933 to the New Medway Steam Packet Co. Ltd, where she was used on the Rochester-Strood-Sheerness-Southend route. When she was sold for scrap in 1938 in Ghent, Belgium, after the New Medway company was taken over by the General Steam Navigation Company of London in 1936, they replaced her with a larger vessel, which her owners named Royal Daffodil. In the meantime on the Mersey, Wallasey Corporation built a replacement Royal Daffodil in 1934, which had to be given the II suffix. [3]

The ship, built for continental trips from Tower Pier, commenced her service on 28 April 1939 with a sailing to Calais. [4] On the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 she was quickly requisitioned by the Sea Transport Department of the Board of Trade.

World War II service

Initially she was used for the evacuation of some 4000 women and children from London and Thames Estuary to East Anglia. [4] [5] From 15 September 1939, Royal Daffodil was used to carry troops of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from Southampton to Cherbourg, continuing on this duty until October that year. [6]

On 21 May 1940 Royal Daffodil was placed on standby to take part in evacuating the BEF if it became necessary. [7] On 23 May, Royal Daffodil along with the passenger steamer Archangel carried troops of the 30th Brigade to Calais. [8] [9] She was one of the ships that took part in Operation Dynamo, the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940. She rescued 9,500 men in seven trips. On 2 June 1940, a bomb passed straight through her and exploded under her. The explosion caused a hole in the starboard side, and the Master ordered everyone to port side, which raised the hole out of the water and enabled a temporary patch of mattresses and wood to be applied. Royal Daffodil made it safely to Ramsgate and disembarked the evacuees. Later she was sailed to Deptford under her own power for permanent repairs. [10] [11] As well as the bomb, Royal Daffodil also survived machine gun and torpedo attacks. [12]

For the remainder of the war, Royal Daffodil ran between Stranraer and Larne, carrying military personnel. [4] In 1945, despite the end of the war, she was retained by the Board of Trade, covering military requirements between Dover and Calais, and between Newhaven and Dieppe, until January 1947. During her wartime service she was estimated to have carried almost 2,444,000 service personnel and covered some 170,000  NM (310,000 km; 200,000 mi). [4]

Post-war

After the war, Royal Daffodil was refitted by her builders, [4] and then used on sailings from Gravesend or Tilbury to view the French coast, also calling at Southend and Margate after a few seasons on this route. From 1954, with passports and 1955 without passports, passengers were again able to land in France.

Paul Lincoln, who managed The 2i's Coffee Bar, used the Daffodil between 1957 and 1963 for live Rock and Skiffle musical entertainment, with performers such as Gene Vincent in 1962, and Jerry Lee Lewis in 1963. In the summer of 1960, the licensed grocers, W H Cullen, hired the ship to take its staff downriver to Margate as an anniversary celebration. Unfortunately, the musical excursions proved unprofitable and in 1966 Royal Daffodil made her last crossing.

She was sold for scrapping in Ghent in 1967, making her last journey to the breakers along the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal under her own power. This event was shown on BBC TV.[ citation needed ]

Official number and code letters

Royal Daffodil had the UK Official Number 167210 and used the Code Letters GSGL. [2]

Citations

  1. 1 2 "Single Ship Report for "1167210"". Miramar (subscription required). Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lloyd's Register of Ships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1942. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  3. 1 2 "Royal Daffodil (1936-1938)". Ian Boyle. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Burtt, Frank (1949). Steamers of the Thames and Medway (1997 reprint ed.). Chatham, Kent: Roadmaster Publishing. pp. 100–102. ISBN   1-871814-46-4.
  5. ↑ "An Evacuee to Wymondham". BBC. Retrieved 28 March 2008.
  6. ↑ Winser 1999, p. 60.
  7. ↑ Winser 1999, p. 11.
  8. ↑ Winser 1999, p. 12.
  9. ↑ Kindell, Don. "Naval Events, May 1940 (Part 4 of 4): Wednesday 22nd – Friday 31st". British and Other Navies in World War II Day-by-Day. Naval-history.net. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  10. ↑ "M V Royal Daffodil". Tom Lee. Archived from the original on 7 September 2008. Retrieved 28 March 2008.
  11. ↑ "GREENWICH INDUSTRIAL HISTORY Volume 10, Issue 1, April 2006". GREENWICH INDUSTRIAL HISTORY SOCIETY. Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2008.
  12. ↑ "Docklands at War - The Blitz". Museum in Docklands. Archived from the original on 15 February 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2008.

Related Research Articles

PS <i>Medway Queen</i> Paddle steamer, little ship of Dunkirk

The PS Medway Queen is a paddle driven steamship, the only mobile estuary paddle steamer left in the United Kingdom. She was one of the "little ships of Dunkirk", making a record seven trips and rescuing 7,000 men in the evacuation of Dunkirk.

HMS <i>Whitshed</i> (D77) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Whitshed (D77/I77) was an Admiralty modified W-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was ordered from Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd under the 14th Order for Destroyers in the Emergency War Program of 1918–19. She was the first ship to carry the name.

HMS <i>Keith</i> Destroyer

HMS Keith was a B-class destroyer flotilla leader built for the Royal Navy around 1930. Initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet, she was placed in reserve in 1937, after repairs from a collision were completed. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, the ship was reactivated and spent some time in Spanish waters, enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict. Keith escorted convoys and conducted anti-submarine patrols early in World War II before being sunk at Dunkirk by German aircraft.

HMS <i>Kingfisher</i> (L70) Sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Kingfisher (L70) was a Royal Navy patrol vessel and the lead ship of the Kingfisher-class sloops, laid down in 1934 and commissioned in 1935. She took part in the Dunkirk evacuation, and spent much of the Second World War as an experimental trials ship. She was sold for scrap in 1947.

HMS <i>Atherstone</i> (1916) Minesweeper of the Royal Navy

HMS Atherstone was a Racecourse-class minesweeper of the Royal Navy. The Racecourse class comprised 32 paddlewheel coastal minesweeping sloops.

HMS <i>Albury</i> Royal Navy minesweeper

HMS Albury was a Hunt-class minesweeper of the Aberdare sub-class built for the Royal Navy during World War I. She was not finished in time to participate in the First World War and survived the Second World War to be sold for scrap in 1947.

HMS <i>Winchelsea</i> (D46) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Winchelsea (D46) was an Admiralty W-class destroyer of the Royal Navy, ordered 9 December 1916 from J. Samuel White at Cowes during the 1916–17 Build Programme.

SS <i>Royal Daffodil</i>

SS Royal Daffodil was a Mersey ferry, built in 1906 and scrapped in 1938. She was built as Daffodil but renamed Royal Daffodil in recognition of her service under requisition during the 1st World War.

The Little Ships of Dunkirk were about 850 private boats that sailed from Ramsgate in England to Dunkirk in northern France between 26 May and 4 June 1940 as part of Operation Dynamo, helping to rescue more than 336,000 British, French, and other Allied soldiers who were trapped on the beaches at Dunkirk during the Second World War.

HMS <i>Westminster</i> (L40) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Westminster was a W-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was the first ship to bear the name. Launched in 1918, she served through two World Wars, and survived both to be sold for scrap in 1947.

HMS <i>Vimy</i> Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Vancouver was a British V-class destroyer. She was launched on 28 December 1917; in July 1922 she accidentally rammed the submarine H24. She was renamed HMS Vimy in April 1928. She served with distinction during World War II, earning two battle honours and damaging or sinking three enemy submarines. The Royal Navy retired her in 1945 and she was scrapped in 1948.

HMS <i>Vimiera</i> (1917) V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy

HMS Vimiera was a V-class destroyer ordered as part of the 1917–18 programme.

HMS <i>Wolfhound</i> (L56) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Wolfhound was one of 21 W-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. Completed in 1918 the ship only played a minor role in the war before its end. The ship was converted into an anti-aircraft escort destroyer during the Second World War and was badly damaged during the Dunkirk evacuation. Wolfhound survived the war and was sold for scrap in 1948.

HMS <i>Shikari</i> (D85) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Shikari (D85) was an Admiralty S-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was built by William Doxford & Sons, Sunderland and launched on 14 July 1919. She was one of the destroyers that took part in the Invergordon Mutiny. In 1933, she was briefly commanded by Frederic John Walker, who was to rise to fame as the foremost Allied submarine hunter of World War II.

HMS Melton was a Racecourse-class minesweeper of the Royal Navy. The Racecourse class comprised 32 paddlewheel coastal minesweeping sloops.

HMS <i>Vivacious</i> (D36) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Vivacious (D36) was a V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War I and World War II.

HMS <i>Venomous</i> Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Venomous (ex-Venom), was a Modified W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in the Russian Civil War and World War II.

HMS <i>Wolsey</i> Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Wolsey (D98) was a W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in the final months of World War I, in the Nanking incident of 1927, and in World War II.

PS <i>Duchess of Fife</i> (1903)

PS Duchess of Fife was a paddle steamer built in 1903 for the Caledonian Steam Packet Company. She spent most of her career serving passenger routes in the Firth of Clyde and was requisitioned for use as a minesweeper during both World Wars. In 1940 she took part in the Dunkirk evacuation, rescuing a total of 1,633 allied troops.

HMS <i>Sharpshooter</i> (J68) Minesweeper of the Royal Navy

HMS Sharpshooter was a Halcyon-class minesweeper of the British Royal Navy. Built at Devonport Dockyard, Sharpshooter was completed in 1937. She served through the Second World War, acting both in her designed role as minesweeper and as a convoy escort, escorting several Arctic convoys. She took part in the evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940, and sank the German submarine U-655 in 1942.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.