This I believe was one of the Motor Ships (steamer) that ran from Southend to Sheerness.
The writer of the card tells of going to Sheerness and seeing around 2 Battle Ships.

I recently found this piece of info on the ship:

Southend Britannia Type:Thames Passenger Vessel Enlarge Image Length:107ft Beam:27ft Draft:3ft Displacement:Not known Engine:2 x 90hp Diesel Construction:Oak Builder:Thornycroft Year Built:1924 When she was first built by Thornycrofts, the Southend Britannia operated a ferry service across the widest part of the Thames estuary from Southend to Sheerness. She was designed to carry 250 passengers on two decks and was virtually flat-bottomed, with a 3ft draft and only 2ft freeboard. It is not hard to imagine Lieut. G.L. Norton, in command of the twin-funnelled ferry, packed solid with troops, returning from Dunkirk, low in the water, praying for the fair weather and smooth seas to hold out. Without this act of grace she would have sunk. Like a much-married old lady with an action-packed history, she has had many names - which speak for themselves: Brightlingsea Belle, when she worked on the Colne in Essex, then Western Lady, offering cruises and a ferry service for five years out of Brixham in Devon. Once a week, when the scheduled cruises and ferry runs there had finished for the day, Western Lady V would have all her seating stripped out and stacked between her funnels. Then a band would arrive and her decks became a dance floor for the enjoyment of the locals and visitors alike. Normally, she would remain moored alongside for this entertainment but, if weather permitted, a trip around the bay was thrown in, or parties of teenagers - jiving to live music - were taken on evening cruises up the River. In 1960 Howard Thomas, managing Director of ABC - now Thames Television - was looking for a suitable vessel to moor near the studios at Teddington Lock for use as a hospitality ship and floating restaurant by the company's clients and VIPs. The Western Lady Fairmile craft were considered, but rejected. Then Western Lady V was inspected and finally chosen. The ferry company were persuaded to sell her. She was taken from Brixham to the River Thames by a crew of four plus two executives from Thames Television who were tempted by the thought of a 'nice little trip'. They lived to regret it! On their voyage around the coast strong winds forced her to seek shelter first at Weymouth, then at Newhaven and finally to drop anchor in Cowes Roads near Portsmouth. Her scant freeboard made her a dangerous craft for a journey up the English Channel. In all, it took over a week to complete the 'nice little trip' and her two joyriders became firm landlubbers in the process! Once in the Thames, her funnels and her wheelhouse were removed to clear the bridges of the Thames on her journey up to Teddington Lock. When she arrived there, her engines and other surplus machinery were removed to provide more room for her as a floating restaurant and she was re-named Iris after the wife of one of the directors. She proved to be as popular in her new role as she had been as a ferry and she did a good job for Thames Television. But eventually, in 1987, at the grand old age of 63 and much to the regret of her owners, twenty years of static mooring in the strong tidal flow below Teddington Weir, took their toll. Thames fought long and hard to save her, even contemplating the idea of having her bedded in concrete or placed in a dry dock. But Iris was condemned as no longer viable and it was decided to scrap her. A sad loss indeed, but now another ship has taken her place. Newer and fully engined, this vessel can take her guests up and down the river whilst they dine, just as once Western Lady V's guests used to dance the night away in Torbay. They thought that she had gone for scrap, but then she was seen again, re-named Beverley, at one time moored in the Docklands and later at Cadogan Pier in Chelsea. When we heard of this, we tried to find her, but to no avail. Perhaps it was her ghost? Dunkirk ships seem to have as many lives as the proverbial cat. There is a postscript to the story of Southend Britannia. Her lifeboat, 14ft long with a 5ft beam and 2½ft draft, was used to carry troops from the beaches of Dunkirk to the ferry in deeper water. After the war, the lifeboat, re-named Landscaper, was sold separately. Lieut. Cmdr. John Sharman-Courtney (also a one-time owner of Dunkirk Little Ship Thame II) owned her for a while and then gave her to a London youth club which planned to restore her. There our trail went cold. The area is now built up and Landscaper has disappeared.