James E Toy (right) 2nd Engineer and colleague. On board MV Queen of the Channel at Margate
Aboard MV Queen of the Channel
2nd Engineer James E Toy (right) and colleague
This picture was taken right by the galley
A wonderful picture of Robin and his father on the bridge in 1961/2
These pictures have been supplied by Robin W Toy. Robin's father, James E Toy, was 3rd Engineer on MV Royal Sovereign (IV) and MV Queen of the Channel (1949) until the GSN withdrew them from service in 1966. In 1968 Robin was 14 years of age when his father and he watched Queen of the Channel leave the creek at Rochester for the last time. Queen of the Channel had been renamed Oia and left to sail for the Greek islands. Robin's father's full name was James Earnest Toy and he was born in Wellington, New Zealand in 1902. After the Second World War he was working for the Acorn Shipyard in Rochester as a marine engineer, when he was offered the post of 3rd Engineer on MV Royal Sovereign in the early 1950's. He was then offered the post of 2nd Engineer on MV Queen of the Channel until she was withdrawn in 1966. All Robin's summer holidays were spent on Queen of the Channel, with many trips to France being spent in the engine room (pictured above), rag in hand. For pictures of the 12 cylinder two stroke Sulzer engines on the Royal Sovereign please click here.