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)

A picture made available on 09 September 2015 shows traditional mud men dancers from the Asaro District of Goroka in the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea perform for the official opening of the Pacific Islands Forum in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 08 September 2015. The Pacific Islands Forum goes from 07 to 11 September and discusses the regions vulnerability to Climate Change. (Photo by Mick Tsikas/EPA)

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV heavy rocket carrying classified spy satellite cargo for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office lifts off from Space Launch Complex 37B at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. This is the final flight of a Delta IV heavy rocket. (Photo by John Raoux/AP Photo)

A protestor is detained following the grand jury verdict on September 23, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. Protesters marched in the streets after a Kentucky grand jury indicts one of the three officers involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police officers during a no-knock warrant at her apartment on March 13, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Members of the Apollo Rainbow Dancers stretch out in special A train late on May 4, 1985, in New York. The legendary Apollo Theatre celebrated its 50th anniversary in an official reopening after a 15 month refurbishing with a celebrity studded evening. (Photo by Ray Stubblebine/AP Photo)

Young women walk through the cave of Saint George during Ashenda festival, at Saint George Church, in Lalibela, Ethiopia, on August 22, 2022. (Photo by Amanuel Sileshi/AFP Photo)

Umbrellas are placed over the statute of the Beatles, during a photocall, on Liverpool's waterfront, in Liverpool, England, Wednesday, March 22, 2017. The city of Liverpool is getting set to celebrate the half-centenary of “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band”, one of the most influential albums by local heroes The Beatles. (Photo by Peter Byrne/PA Wire via AP Photo)

A cultural dance group waits to perform at Gambela stadium during Ethiopia's Nations and Nationalities Festival in Gambela town, in Ethiopia December 8, 2015. Picture taken December 8, 2015. (Photo by Tiksa Negeri/Reuters)