TSS ''Canterbury'' was a ferry completed in 1929 to link the ''Golden Arrow'' and ''La Flèche d'Or'' trains to form the prestige

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

– Dover– Calais–

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

service.

Construction

The ship was built as first class only passenger ferry by

William Denny & Bros William Denny and Brothers Limited, often referred to simply as Denny, was a Scottish shipbuilding company. History The shipbuilding interests of the Denny family date back to William Denny (born 1779), for whom ships are recorded being buil ...

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

for the Southern Railway.

Service

The ship entered service simultaneously with the ''Golden Arrow'' rail service. At this time she was first class only, and while having a capacity of 1700, her projected loadings were expected to be less than 400. The ship was modified to accommodate two classes of passengers from May 1931, at the same time as third class carriages were introduced on the ''Golden Arrow'' train. Following the ''Golden Arrow'' last trip after the declaration of the Second World War, ''Canterbury'' was converted to a troop ship. On 29 May 1940 after departing the east pier at Dunkirk at 16:50 with 1960 troops ''Canterbury'' was badly damaged by a bomb near miss but was able to reach Dover. Following repairs she continued with the evacuation on 3 June 1940 completing five trips for the evacuation. She then performed some sailings from

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

evacuations to

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

and

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

until the middle of June before resting on the

River Dart The River Dart is a river in Devon, England, that rises high on Dartmoor and flows for to the sea at Dartmouth. Name Most hydronyms in England derive from the Brythonic language (from which the river's subsequent names ultimately derive fr ...

and serving as a target practice ship of the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

and a period on the Stranraer–

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight roll-on roll-off port. Larne is administered by Mid ...

route. From June 1942, she undertook an eight-month conversion to a troop landing ship and took part in the June 1944

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

. Postwar, she initially returned to the ''Golden Arrow'' service, but was replaced in October 1946 by the Southern Railways flagship following that ship's refurbishment. ''Canterbury'' served on the Folkestone–Calais run, and in 1948 moved to the Calais–Boulogne route until retirement in 1964. In 1948, ''Canterbury'' became the first

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

ferry to be equipped with radar.

Fate

The ship was broken up in 1965.

Preservation

The ship's bell and a Second World War memorial plaque are held by the

National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant ...

In fiction

In 1951 she made an appearance as the cross-channel ferry in the British comedy film ''

The Lavender Hill Mob ''The Lavender Hill Mob'' is a 1951 comedy film from Ealing Studios, written by T. E. B. Clarke, directed by Charles Crichton, starring Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway and featuring Sid James and Alfie Bass. The title refers to Lavend ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canterbury (1928) 1928 ships Ferries of the United Kingdom Steamships of the United Kingdom Ships of British Rail Ships of the Southern Railway (UK)