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)

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)

A printed photograph taken on September 28, 2017 shows people bathing on the highway after Hurricane Maria destroyed people's homes, held up at the same spot of the highway where motorcyclists ride past in Naranjito, Puerto Rico, May 27, 2018. Thanks to the owners of the land alongside the highway, creek water was piped to the side of the road for people without water to use for bathing, washing clothes and dishes. (Photo by Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo)

A horse is ridden out of the River Eden after being washed on the first day of the Appleby Horse Fair on June 7, 2018 in Appleby, England. The fair is an annual gathering for Gypsy, Romany and travelling communities. The event has existed under the protection of a charter granted by James II since 1685 and it remains one of the key meeting points for these communities. Around 10,000 travellers are expected to attend the event who traditionally come to buy and sell horses and it offers an opportunity for the traveller community to come together to celebrate their heritage and culture. (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)

An Afghan hunter shoots at a duck in Laghman province, Afghanistan on May 30, 2018. (Photo by Reuters/Parwiz)

A woman from the Hui Muslim community carries food that will be eaten by her and others to break their fast during the holy fasting month of Ramadan at the Nanxiapo Mosque on June 8, 2018 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Turkey's Yamaha rider Toprak Razgatlioglu celebrates winning the world championship during the World Superbike Championship at the Mandalika International Circuit in Kuta Mandalika, in central Lombok on November 21, 2021. (Photo by Bay Ismoyo/AFP Photo)

A student walks past on the broken bridge hit by a river overflow following floods in Jaranih village, Central Hulu Sungai, South Kalimantan province, Indonesia on November 17, 2021. (Photo by Bayu Pratama S./Antara Foto via Reuters)