Built by William Denny & Brothers of Dumbarton for the Southern Railway Co for use as a Cross Channel ferry, The Isle of Thanet was launched on Thursday 23rd April 1925. It made its maiden voyage on the 24 July 1925 between Dover & Calais, which route was to be its main run until 1932, after which it was transferred to the Folkestone to Boulogne route. Early in 1939 it was transferred to the Southampton St Malo service. On the 5th September 1939, two days after the declaration of war, The Isle of Thanet was Commissioned as Hospital Carrier No 22 and was based at Newhaven. During May 26 to June 4, 1940, It was heavily involved in "Operation Dynamo" the evacuation from Dunkirk of the British Expeditionary Force. In 1942 it was refitted at Preston for use as a target ship for submarines based at Dundee. Later it became the HQ Ship for "Force J" during the preparation for the invasion of Europe. In the late summer of 1944 it was used as a cross channel trooping ship. In 1946, after the end of WW2 the Isle Of Thanet returned to its pre war civilian role of a Cross channel ferry on the Newhaven to Dieppe route. In 1947 it was transferred to Dover where it was used from 1952 as a Reserve ship on various routes. In 1955 records show it being used on day trips between Folkestone and Boulogne. The last time it was used in service was on Sunday 15th Sep 1963, after which it was laid up in Dover until on the 10th June 1964 it was towed out of Dover en route to Blyth where it arrived on the 12th June for scrapping.

Note: The above material is available and was collated from information published in several books, and in the public domain of the internet.

I grew up in Bedfordshire and the first ship I actually saw was the Isle of Thanet. When I was about 12 I sailed on her to a Scout camping holiday to Guernsey . Naturally I thought it was the biggest and the best. I still recall the thrill of it all, all those years ago.

I remember going on holiday, when I was about 10 and travelling on the 'Isle of Thanet' from Southampton to the Channel Islands (either Guernsey or Jersey) in the early 1950's. We also went on the ships 'Isle of Guernsey' and 'Isle of Sark' amongst others.