SS Maid of Kent

SS Maid of Kent was a British passenger ferry and later converted to a hospital ship. She was named after Elizabeth Barton.[1]

HMHS Maid of Kent as a hospital ship between 1939 and 1940.
History
United Kingdom
NameSS Maid of Kent
NamesakeMaid of Kent
Owner
Ordered1924
BuilderWilliam Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton
Yard number1174
Laid down1925
Launched5 August 1925
Commissioned26 October 1925
ReclassifiedHMHS Maid of Kent (No.21)
IdentificationCallsign: GBR, GLNS
FateSunk by Luftwaffe in 1940.
General characteristics
Type
Displacement
  • 2657 tons (minimum)
  • 2693 tons (maximum)
Length104.24 m (342 ft 0 in)
Beam45.1 m (148 ft 0 in)
Draft12' 10''
Depth17.1 m (56 ft 1 in)
Installed power
  • 4x Parsons turbines 800 kW each
  • 2x shafts
Speed22 knots (41 km/h)
Boats & landing
craft carried		8 x Lifeboats
Capacity1400

Construction and career

She was laid down, launched and commissioned in 1925. She was owned by Southern Railway Company, London. On 26 October, she was delivered to Southampton. SS Maid of Kent replaced her sister ship Isle of Thanet, which was transferred to Folkestone on 6 November.

On 9 March 1926, she accidentally rammed the Southern Breakwater at Dover which cause damage to her bow.

SS Maid of Kent made her way to Folkestone as soon the United Kingdom declared war on Germany. She was taken over by the Royal Navy and designated as a hospital ship and made her way from Newhaven to Dieppe.

Throughout May 1940 she made several trips to and back carrying hundreds of wounded. On 18 May, a bomb dropped nearby HMHS Maid of Kent but she was unable to relocate, three days later on 21 May, a bomb from the Luftwaffe air raid hit her engine room which cause a fire aboard the ship. She sank that day but was later raised by the Germans and moved into deeper water.[2][3]

  • SS Maid of Kent after colliding with the breakwater in 1926.
    SS Maid of Kent after colliding with the breakwater in 1926.
  • HMHS Maid of Kent between 1939 and 1940.
    HMHS Maid of Kent between 1939 and 1940.

References
  1. "Steam Turbine MAID OF KENT built by William Denny & Bros in 1925 for Southern Railway Company, London, Passenger". www.clydeships.co.uk. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  2. Andrew Plested says (16 July 2012). "TS Maid of Kent (II) – Past and Present". Dover Ferry Photos. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  3. Thwaites, Richard (n.d.). Luftwaffe Destruction of the Maid of Kent (PDF) – via doverwarmemorialproject.org.uk.
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