'iris' and 'daffodil' at dover, 23 april 1918
these two vessels seen in stern view are the mersey ferries 'iris' and 'daffodil' (both 1906) double-berthed at dover. If the received date is correct it refers to the day of the zeebrugge raid, presumably before they left, otherwise it must show them as returned on 24th and disembarking their troops to the quay on the right. Note the damaged boat on the stern of the 'daffodil'. Both ships took part in th is so-called 'st george's day' raid and were instrumental in holding the cruiser 'vindictive' (1897) against the zeebrugge mole while troops from all three ships landed on the mole in an attempt to disable the german gun batteries. They were specially selected for the operation because of their shallow draught, double hulls, manoeuvrability, engine power and passenger capacity and were temporarily commissioned as h. M. Ships, hence the white ensigns. They returned to the mersey on 17 may 1918 and, by command of king george v, were renamed 'royal iris' and 'royal daffodil'. Date: 1918. Dimensions: 252 mm x 354 mm. Collection: Fine art.
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