Name MV Royal Daffodil Completed May 1939 Launched 24 January 1939 | Port of registry London In service 1939 Length 91 m | |
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Owner General Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. Operator General Steam Navigation Co. Ltd Builder William Denny and Brothers | ||
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, and in her inaugural season was used for continental trips from Tower Pier to Ostend, being quickly requisitioned for war service. Initially she was used for the evacuation of children from South East England to East Anglia.
From 15 September 1939, Royal Daffodil was used to carry troops of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to France, continuing on this duty until October that year. On 21 May 1940 Royal Daffodil was placed on standby to take part in evacuating the BEF if it became necessary. On 23 May, Royal Daffodil along with the passenger steamer Archangel carried troops of the 30th Brigade to Calais. 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 and repaired. As well as the bomb, Royal Daffodil also survived machine gun and torpedo attacks.
After the war, Royal Daffodil was refitted, and was 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, she was again able to land in France and later had live musical entertainment provided by top stars of the day. These included Gene Vincent in 1962 and Jerry Lee Lewis in 1963. Unfortunately these trips proved to be unprofitable and in 1966 Royal Daffodil made her last crossing. She was sold for scrapping in Ghent Belgium, making her last journey to the breakers along the Terneuzen Canal under her own power to a sad demise in 1967. This event was shown on B.B.C. TV. In the summer of 1960 the licensed grocers W.H. Cullen hired the ship to take its staff down river to Margate as a celebration of an anniversary.
Official number and code letters
Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers.
Royal Daffodil had the UK Official Number 167210 and used the Code Letters GSGL. Royal Daffodil was allocated the IMO number 5530130 towards the end of her life.