HOO SAILING BARGE GRAVEYARD

As I am struggling to walk having aggravated my meniscus tear in my right knee, I am resting up over the bank holiday weekend. I need to be careful over the coming week, so I will be travelling to the Hoo Peninsula (Saxon Shore Way) for a short stroll along the shoreline, and to video the Wreaks of Hoo and Hoo Island Napoleonic Fort. I am planning this trip out on either Tuesday or Wednesday next week. This will be a part walking and part aerial video with some history of wrecks, fort, and the area thrown in.

Here is a teaser video and some snippets of information on the Hoo Shipwreck Graveyard. Click here to view an HD version of this video on my Facebook page.

About Hoo Sailing Barge Graveyard

Adjacent to Hoo (Stargate) Marina on the River Medway lies a cluster of discarded ships. Many of these vessels were used to transport cement along the river, with most being over a hundred years old. Surplus to requirements and at the end of their life they made one final voyage to this quiet patch of the river and were left to rot.

The most famous wreck resting here is the wooden Thames sailing barge Ena. Ena was constructed in Harwich in 1906, In World War One ENA carried supplies to the armies on the continent of Europe. Their shallow draught gave them access to shallow waters, and they were less likely to be sunk by mines or U-boats: U-boats were often reluctant to disclose their presence, or even waste a precious torpedo, attacking a mere sailing barge. 

In World War II she continued to trade in grain between London and Ipswich, or lightering on the River Orwell, and also carried sugar beet. Ena was used in Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940. She was one of sixteen sailing barges which sailed to Dunkirk to evacuate troops from the beaches as part of Operation Dynamo

During the crossing, they endured constant air attacks and her crew were ordered to beach her and abandon ship, however, she was spotted by troops and sailed back to England under constant enemy bombardment and machine-gun fire. Today she lies decaying on the flat of the River Medway at Hoo.

Hoo Fort (Hoo Island)

Hoo Fort is a 19th-century military installation in Kent, England, that was built to protect Chatham Naval Dockyard on the River Medway. It's located on Hoo Island, which is south of the Hoo Peninsula and in the parish of Hoo. The fort was constructed in the 1860s in response to the 1859 Royal Commission's recommendations to defend the UK from a possible French invasion.

A more in-depth video explaining the history of this area will follow on my YouTube channel soon…