Builders: Stockton Construction Co 1944
Propulsion type: Twin screw motor vessel
Owner: New Medway Steam Packet Co
Service dates: 1948 - 1956
Tonnage: Gross 345
Comments:
This vessel was built as a military landing craft and was purchased in 1947 by the New Medway Steam Packet Co for use as an excursion boat between Sheerness and Herne Bay. She was converted at Rochester and came into service in 1948. She replaced the paddle steamer City of Rochester, who had been bombed in the Medway in the Second World War. In the event she was placed on the Strood, Southend and Herne Bay run, calling at Sheerness Pier until 1954, when that port was no longer visited by the excursion steamers. The passenger accommodation was sufficient for 425 passengers and consisted of a promenade deck, fore deck and after main deck. She also had a dining saloon, lounge and refreshment bar and an operational speed of 12 knots. For a while, around 1953, Rochester Queen was based at Clacton for local cruises on behalf of the General Steam Navigation Co, who were the Medway company's owners. There was some suggestion that she would be based at Brighton in 1954 but this did not materialize. She was sold in 1956 to German owners at Bremerhaven and renamed Hein Muck, although in 1961 she was bought by the Commodore Shipping Co of Guernsey and renamed Commodore Queen.