The Hoo Peninsula is a peninsula in Kent, England, separating the estuaries of the Rivers Thames and Medway. It is dominated by a line of chalk, clay, and sand hills, and is surrounded by an extensive area of marshland composed of alluvial silt. Click on photos to enlarge.
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 where they were left to rot.
The most famous wreck resting here is the wooden Thames sailing barge Ena. Ena was constructed in Harwich in 1906,
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 the 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 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.
