Dunkirk boat Southern Queen to be restored in Southampton

The Southern Queen will be restored to her former glory at Shamrock Quay in Northam.

The boat, which was built in 1926, was used to rescue soldiers from the French port in 1940 during the Second World War.

She towed Tahilla, a boat bombed at the port, all the way back to the UK.

The remarkable vessel is now embarking on a new adventure thanks to Southampton-based Willett Built.

Dave White, shipwright at the marine company, said his team were drawn to saving the boat.

The 43-year-old said: “Southern Queen has been sat slowly degrading for years.

“She’s historically linked to another ship, Tahilla, which she towed back from Dunkirk after it was bombed.

“It has a rich history - there are letters about her doing several runs between the UK and Dunkirk.

“She saved several hundred men off the beach.

“Because of her history, we knew it was worth saving and restoring her.”

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The extensive repairs are expected to take two years and cost £250,000.

A fundraiser has been launched to help pay for the costs.

Dave added: “We’re crawling towards the target.

“The page says £25,000 but it’s £250,000 that we need. We want to restore her to her original standard.”

The Southern Queen was moved from Solent Transport Services on Empress Road to Shamrock Quay on Friday.

This formed ‘stage one’ of her restoration, said Dave.

He added: “After the boat is cleared up, we will assess her and do a report on the extent of the work she needs.

“She will be stripped down to a skeleton and built and repaired at a base level.

“We want to go down the restore route, rather than rebuild.

“We are really, really excited, the whole team is. It’s not the sort of thing that comes along very often.”

The Southern Queen has been stored at Solent Transport since April 3.

Mike Lewry, director of Solent Transport Services, said: “Southern Queen was a ferry in the Isles of Scilly for the remainder of her days.

“They were going to burn her for bonfire wood until she was bought.

“Andy Willett of Willett Built needed somewhere to store the boat whilst they prepared its shed.

“We offered to take Southern Queen and keep her here.”

Visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-rescue-dunkirk-little-ship-southern-queen to support the restoration of Southern Queen.