One of the largest paddle steamers afloat in Britain is the H.M.S. Royal Eagle, former peacetime excursion boat which carried passengers on pleasure jaunts from Tower Bridge to Southend, Ramscate and Margate. Commissioned two years ago as a warship of the Royal Navy, the craft has been in action 52 times against enemy aircraft. The Eagle took part in the evacuation from Dunkirk where she was dive-bombed 48 times and brought home nearly 3,000 British troops. Members of the crew cleaning the paddle boxes of H.M.S. Royal Eagle in London on January 18, 1943. (Photo by AP Photo)

British holidaymaker Sean Chinn captures a crocodile on camera during a dive at the Jardines de la Reina marine park in Caribbean Sea, Cuba. (Photo by Sean Chinn/Caters News Agency)

Pope Francis attends a circus performance during his weekly general audience at Paul VI hall on December 22, 2016 at the Vatican. (Photo by Alberto Pizzoli/AFP Photo)

A monkey leaps into a pond on a hot day in Allahabad on May 19, 2017. According to local reports temperatures have soared in the northern Indian city to 47.28 Celsius. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/AFP Photo)

This April 30, 2016 image made available by NOAA shows a deep sea anglerfish living between pillow basalt rock formations, during a deepwater exploration of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument area in the Pacific Ocean near Guam and Saipan. The ambush predator waits for prey to be attracted by its lure, located between its eyes, and gulps it with its large mouth. (Photo by NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research via AP Photo)

A truck driver cleans the mirror of his decorated truck in Charsadda outside Peshawar, Pakistan October 18, 2016. (Photo by Fayaz Aziz/Reuters)

A Muslim boy takes part in Friday prayers on a street outside a mosque in Mumbai, India, June 24, 2016. (Photo by Shailesh Andrade/Reuters)

A participant in the Downtown Parade kicks off the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in Houston, Texas, US on February 25, 2023. (Photo by Reginald Mathalone/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)