The Queen of Thanet

On the 6th September in 1884, The Queen of Thanet Paddlesteamer made it to Boulogne, taking just five hours, but gales stopped it returning to Hastings until the following Tuesday. It had been planned that the Queen of Thanet’s inaugural trip should be to Boulogne and back, but bad weather confined the boat to excursions along the English coast for its first four days.

After more trips along the coast, plus another to Boulogne, the Queen of Thanet’s charter ended on 21 September. The test was seen as having been a great success, attracting much public interest (and 2,938 passengers), despite the poor weather and the dilapidated state of the pier’s landing stage.

Images

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  Queen-of-Thanet-PS.-c1919.