The ship:  TS Canterbury II
 
The twin screw turbine steamer Canterbury II was built and engineered for the Southern Railway by Wm Denny & Sons, Dumbarton, Scotland as a passenger/mail steamer.
 
LOA: 341ft 8 ins;  Beam: 47 ft 2 ins; Depth: 17 ft 10 ins;  Draft: 12 ft 2 ins (Max)
Gross tonnage: 2910 (3071 grt from 1932).  Speed in service: 21 knots
Max passengers: 1700   (significantly lower on Golden Arrow service)
 
It was launched in December 1928 and delivered to the Southern Railway in March 1929 following sea trials. She was initially deployed on the famous ‘Golden Arrow’ service and provided the sea crossing for the passengers on the express railway links between London and Paris.  As the Golden Arrow was a Pullman (First class only) service, the Canterbury was particularly well appointed to handle the ‘privileged few’ who could enjoy this level of transport.
 
In 1939 Canterbury II was converted to a troop ship, painted grey overall and the aft mast taken away.  In early May 1940 she was still transporting troops of the BEF to France.  However, with the reversal of fortunes during the ‘blitzkrieg, she was soon deployed evacuating troops from Bologne and Calais before they fell to the advancing German troops.
 
Between May 25 and June 4, 1940 the ship made 5 trips to Dunkirk before being sent to Brest, Le Harvre and Cherbourg to evacuate troops there. After a return to Plymouth she was laid up for nearly a year before being transferred to Northern Ireland to act as a ferry between Larne (N Ireland) and Stranraer (Scotland).  During this time she was also used as a target ship for the RAF and Fleet Air Arm.
 
She was converted to a Landing Ship Infantry (LSI) between June 1942 and February 1943 at Ardrossan, Scotland and took Canadian troops to Normandy in June 1944.
Subsequently she was employed as a leave ship until being returned to the Southern Railway in July 1945.
 
Canterbury had a long and eventful career and was in service until 1964.  She  was broken up in July 1965.  Further details can be found on the Doverferry website.
 
 
The model:
The hull is from the FWL ‘Isle of Thanet’ kit.  Superstructure was modified using Evergreen stock.  Ships boats were from Niko models, winches and bollards from Battlefleet, photo etch was from BJ Modellbau (davits), GMM (railings, stairs etc)  and Eduard (crew).  The ‘Little Ships’ were from FWL and the sinking steamer scratch built.  Sundry items came from the spares box..
 
 
Jim S
August 2010