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)

Sister Kate and Sister Claire pose on the beach to promote the documentary film “Breaking Habits?” at the Cannes Film Festival on May 09, 2018 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Regis Duvignau/Reuters)

A resident (unseen) uses a belt to get vegetables in Wuhan, in China's central Hubei province on March 13, 2020. China reported just eight cases of the coronavirus on March 13, with no new domestic infections outside the epicentre of Hubei province. (Photo by AFP Photo/China Stringer Network)

A villager stretches as the Mayon volcano spews ashes and lava in Legaspi city, Albay province, Philippines, 12 June 2023. The restive Mayon volcano has begun spewing lava and small eruptions, putting the lives of thousands of people at risk from possible violent explosion. (Photo by Francis R. Malasig/EPA/EFE)

Yi Arias, a CORE crew member in an upbeat mood at COVID-19 mass-vaccination of healthcare workers taking place at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, U.S., January 15, 2021 (Photo by Irfan Khan/Pool via Reuters)

A woman dressed in the style of a Hindu goddess keeps her face partially covered for a ritual during Maha Shivaratri celebrations on March 12, 2021 in Kaveripattinam, India. Maha Shivaratri is a major Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the god, Shiva. The festival is observed with chanting prayers, fasting, and meditating to overcome “darkness and ignorance” in life. (Photo by Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images)

A racegoer arrives for Ladies Day of the Royal Ascot horse racing meeting, at Ascot Racecourse in Ascot, England, Thursday, June 22, 2023. (Photo by Alastair Grant/AP Photo)

A soldier supporting anti-government opposition groups carries a rocket-propelled grenade launcher on a street in the Fagah area of Mogadishu, Somalia Sunday, April 25, 2021. Gunfire was exchanged Sunday between government forces loyal to President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, who signed into law on April 14 a two year extension of his mandate and that of his government, and other sections of the military opposed to the move and sympathetic to former presidents Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. (Photo by Farah Abdi Warsameh/AP Photo)