HMS Queen Emma

Here she is restored to her pre-war glory

Built in 1939 and named Koningen Emma she and her sister ship Prinses Beatrix were engaged in transporting passengers between the Hook of Holland and Harwich.

In 1940, she was requisitioned by the Ministry of War Transport, renamed HMS Queen Emma and converted to a troopship at Harland & Wolff's yards in Belfast. During the war her main role was transporting Commandos, the raids of the Lofoten Islands and Dieppe being perhaps the most notable. With her yacht-like lines, she was capable of a speed of 23 knots making her ideal for quick in-and-out operations.

In November 1941, HMS Queen Emma and her sister ship, renamed HMS Princess Beatrix, together with HMAS Dunedin, were at Freetown, Sierra Leone, where they had paused on their way back to England after carrying troops to Egypt. On receiving a report that a surface-raider had been spotted off the west coast of Africa, the three ships were ordered to join in with other warships, both British and American, to help in the search which proved to be unsuccessful. The surface-raider was later identified as being the Atlantis.

In 1946 HMS Queen Emma was released to her former owners and, after refurbishing, she resumed plying across the North Sea until 1969, when she was scrapped at a breaker's yard in Antwerp, Belgium.

Return to the Narrative
or to the
Addenda Index