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)

New program of Munich's Krone Circus performed by two American artists “The Carmenas” during a press conference in Munich, Germany on January 10, 1962, while sitting in a coffee-house. (Photo by Heinrich Sanden Sr./AP Photo)

A line of soldiers firing handguns during a training session, circa 1920. (Photo by Keystone). P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution.

Frenchman Georges Speicher drinks as he starts riding down the Col de l'Aubisque during the 18th stage of the Tour de France between Tarbes and Pau. on July 17, 1933. Speicher finished second beaten by Spanish winner Learco Guerra to retain his overall leader's yellox jersey on his way to winning the Tour de France. (Photo by France Presse Voir/AFP Photo)

Couple getting intimate on couch. (Photo by Vincent Besnault/Getty Images)

Australian actress Joy Smithers poses beside a poster featuring Australian cricketer Brett Lee during the official launch of the AceStar underwear range at Pink Salt on August 19, 2008 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mike Flokis/Getty Images)

The Royal Castle is seen a veil of heavy winter smog in Budapest, Hungary on January 30, 2017. (Photo by Laszlo Balogh/Reuters)

A newly-married couple takes a nap before their mass wedding ceremony at the CheongShim Peace World Center in Gapyeong, South Korea, Sunday, February 17, 2013. Some 3,500 South Korean and foreign couples exchanged or reaffirmed marriage vows in the Unification Church's mass wedding arranged by Hak Ja Han Moon, a wife of the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the controversial founder of the Unification Church. (Photo by Lee Jin-man/AP Photo)