I remember the Queen as she sailed from St Ives to Scilly in the 60s. My grandfather was Harbourmaster in St Ives and supported the venture which was opposed by local boatmen who failed to see the importance of this sailing in revitalising St Ives as a port. I saw her again in the late 60s or early 70s sailing in the Menai Straits

My ex wife Lyn and I,along with my Parents,took the cruise from Cairns to Thursday Is. when the Coral Sea Celebrations were on. Dad was stationed on TI during WW2, so it was an exciting nostalgic trip for him. He showed us his name carved into the wall of the bunker under the old gun emplacements on top of the hill. We enjoyed Willie Nelson's old city council bus Tour up there as well. That cruise ,on a ship with so much character, will always remain in my memory as a major fantastic journey. The passenger numbers were down so the crew spent a lot of time with us, and they were just fantastic. I was so disappointed to learn that she is laying wrecked in the Islands .

10th July is a significant day in NZ as it marks the anniversary of the Rainbow Warrior Bombing at Marsden Wharf. At the time this vessel was known as the Gulf Explorer and was laid up not far from the Rainbow Warrior. My late father was watchman and what should have been a quiet watch instead turned into something more dramatic.
It is the 30th anniversary this year which is actually what first got me thinking about what happened to this ship. I have so many fond memeories of her. Thanks for the website and sharing her history.

My grandfather sailed on her as mate and Pilot when she was up here ,he then went and did the winter season going out the the Scilly Isles ,I used to go along on the trips from Menai Bridge to Llandudno.

Hi,I am building a radio controlled model of this ship,following a feature article in October 2011 vol.85,issue 790 of Sea Breezes.My hull is grp,50 ins loa,by 14 ins beam,drawing 4 ins,8ins deep hull.Powered bya single 2in three bladed prop,driven by a 6volt Decaperm motor,via an Mtronic electronic speed controller,with a rudder servo,and a fullsize cd player/radio,playing music of the era,and ships horn,engine room soun ds,etc.Weight is a serious problem,as I suffer Parkinsons,but I`m keeping it down-just!!Good pics,very helpful,will be back,bob

Suddenly thought of my 18th birthday and the the cruise I won on the Queen in 1989 last night! A little googling and found your site Andy. Wow... memories and even a photo of our fancy dress night!
Thanks for the reminders as well as a fun holiday. Hard to believe it was so many years ago now!
My photos are somewhere around but my children have loved seeing and hearing the story of the "Queen"!

I served on deck from 1968/69 when we did Liverpool Docks taking potential investors for the proposed Container Terminal and the summer trips in which we rammed Margate or Ramsgate pier and also sank a family barge in Ostend! Very Eventful!!.

A couple of days ago i was watching the amazing documentary "Deep Water" as i was watching Robin Knox-Johnstone sail back across finishing line i saw a ship that looked a lot like Queen of the Isles. Today i thought i will have a look and see if the Queen was ever in the region at the time. Then i found this site, what a shock. When i was 14 yrs old my Father Bernie Muir was one of the Engineers that delivered the Queen from NZ (from Memory) to Cairns. He stayed on for sometime in numerous rolls i think he went on to become a General Manager. As a kid i had so many good times on board the Queen. I was onboard the Queen during the original fit out in Cairns for Royal Tropic Cruise lines and made many trips up to TI and back. I remember Vicki, Tony, Bob the Bossun, Mark and his Family, Wayne Gill and the owner who was investigated for trying to blow the Queen up with his wife onboard, I still have not heard the full story. My Father passed in 1998 from Asbestosis. This part of my fathers life was one that i will never forget. I have so many great memories of the crew who looked after me while onboard. Love to see more photos. My Father is the guy with stripped shirt and carrying the video camera with crew tied up at Trinity Wharf. I'm the Kid sitting in the life raft next to Bob the Bossun. I think that shot was taken at Cape York. a couple of years ago i was looking through Trader Boat magazine and i saw that Life raft for sale. I would have loved to of got hold of it.

i was lucky enough to get a job on the queen of the isles when i left school in the late 60s sailing between penzance and scillys also st ives to the scillys and we aleo done about a week running from torquay to the channel islands really enjoyed my time working on there great crew great snip soory she ended up like she has but thank you for bringing back memories will keep coming back here

I followed the career of the ship as a teenager in the 1960s but sailed in her only once, from Barry to Ilfracombe in September 1968. She was a versatile ship that did so many things in her six years in the UK.
In a week's time, on 16 November, it will be fifty years since she was launched in Bristol. It's great to have this website to keep our memories of the ship alive.