Medway Queen was ordered by the New Medway Steam Packet Company from Ailsa Shipbuilding & Engineering Company at Troon, and was ready for the 1924 season. She was the first purpose-built Thames paddle steamer since the Golden Eagle in1909.
In May 1940 she made seven journeys to the beaches of Dunkirk and saved the lives of an estimated 7,000 soldiers, whilst constantly under air attack. She was fitted with a Lewis machine gun and guns obtained from the rescued soldiers were used to defend her.
On 28th May she went to the aid of the stricken Brighton Belle, which was nearly sinking near the North Goodwin Sands, and took aboard some 800 soldiers and the ship’s crew.
She was still in regular use on the Thames in 1960, and the end of the 1963 season was laid up amidst considerable speculation about her future.
She left the Thames under tow for the Isle of Wight in 1965. She sank and was passed into the hands of the Medway Queen Preservation Society in 1984, and was moved to her new moorings at Kinsnorth in 1987. She sank again but in 1989 restoration work was well under way through the efforts of a team of dedicated volunteers.
In 1997 she was at her new moorings on the Hoo Peninsula and her future is still far from assured.

Whether she will sail again is debatable, but you can visit the Medway Queen Preservation Society's web site for more information.