TSS Canterbury

The ship was built as first class only passenger ferry by William Denny & Bros of Dumbarton, Scotland for the Southern Railway. ==Service==

The ship entered service simultaneously with the Golden Arrow rail service. Following repairs she continued with the evacuation on 3 June 1940 completing five trips for the evacuation. She then performed some sailings from Southampton evacuations to Normandy and Brittany until the middle of June before resting on the River Dart and serving as a target practice ship of the Fleet Air Arm and a period on the Stranraer–Larne route. From June 1942, she undertook an eight-month conversion to a troop landing ship and took part in the June 1944 Normandy landings. Postwar, she initially returned to the Golden Arrow service, but was replaced in October 1946 by the Southern Railways flagship following that ship's refurbishment. Canterbury served on the Folkestone–Calais run, and in 1948 moved to the Calais–Boulogne route until retirement in 1964. In 1948, Canterbury became the first English Channel ferry to be equipped with radar. ==Fate==

The ship was broken up in 1965. ==Preservation==

The ship's bell and a Second World War memorial plaque are held by the National Railway Museum. ==In fiction==

In 1951 she made an appearance as the cross-channel ferry in the British comedy film The Lavender Hill Mob. ==References==