Fleet
The first ferries were side-loading paddle steamers named Gordon, Duncan and Hutton (being named after General Gordon of Khartoum, Colonel Francis Duncan MP and Professor Charles Hutton). Each was powered by 100nhp condensing engines by John Peen & Son of Greenwich.
The initial fleet was eventually replaced, starting in 1923 with The Squire (named after William Squires, a former mayor of Woolwich), and in 1930 with the Will Crooks (Labour MP for Woolwich, 1903-1921) and the John Benn (Sir John was a member of London County Council, Liberal MP for Wapping, and grandfather of Tony Benn).
The current three vessels (built in Dundee in 1963 by the Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company to replace the previous four paddle steamers used since 1923) were each named after prominent local politicians: John Burns, Ernest Bevin and James Newman (Newman was mayor of Woolwich, 1923-25). These ferries feature Voith-Schneider propulsion systems for manoeuvrability.
Read more about this topic: Woolwich Ferry
Famous quotes containing the word fleet:
“On the middle of that quiet floor
sits a fleet of small black ships,
square-rigged, sails furled, motionless,
their spars like burned matchsticks.”
—Elizabeth Bishop (1911–1979)
“A city on th’ inconstant billows dancing;
For so appears this fleet majestical.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Believe me, if all those endearing young charms,
Which I gaze on so fondly today,
Were to change by tomorrow, and fleet in my arms,
Like fairy-gifts fading away.”
—Thomas Moore (1779–1852)