HMS London

The HMS London should have been an auspicious ship; she was one of the first vessels of Charles II's reformed Royal Navy, having been part of the fleet that brought him back from exile in the Netherlands in 1660 to end the anarchy that had reigned since Cromwell's death two years previously. Yet she was anything but lucky.

When she was lost in 1665 all was peaceful: we were between squabbles with the Dutch. The London was sailing up the river with 300 men and noblemen on board - and 14 tons of gunpowder. Either traders had sold the ship cheap, unstable powder, or a flame - from a candle carried by a crew member - blew up the warship.

The reverberations shook the capital politically and seismically. The HMS London's loss was the start of two of the worst years in the capital's history. In May people had begun dying from bubonic plague - more than 75,000 by the end of the year. In 1666 the Great Fire destroyed much of London.

Times Archive, 1878: The late fatal collision on the Thames

Passenger steamers are not calculated to stand even a slight collision with a heavier vessel. They must break up like crockeryware, or collapse like brown paper

In 1667, Dutch warships broke through across the Medway guarding Chatham, and 15 warships were destroyed. Our flagship, the Royal Charles, was also captured.

HMS Aisha

In 1938, Robert Turner probably felt as if he owned the river when he was cruising on his beautiful new 98ft cruiser Wilna. But a year later it would be painted battleship grey and pressed into service as the HMS Aisha. Hitler had realised that the Thames was London's major artery, transporting fuel, food, and troops. Cut the Thames and he'd bring London and the rest of the country to their knees. The river became a target for the Lufwaffe bombers and submarines that sneaked up the estuary. The Aisha was fitted with an antique First World War machine-gun and put into the care of a ragtag group of volunteers. Known as “Dad's Navy”, or Churchill's pirates, these were the same heroes who pulled off the miracle of Dunkirk. Advanced acoustic and magnetic mines (and standard contact mines) were dropped by plane and laid by submarine. Port of London staff were posted along the river in shelters, to note where mines hit the river. Those laid by submarine were harder to spot. Dad's Navy had nothing to combat the fast E-boats that sneaked all the way up the river to the city. In October 1940 the Aisha hit a mine and sank.

Dovenby

For a ship as beautiful as the Dovenby, 2,575 tons of bird droppings were not the most glamorous cargo. She'd picked up her load in Peru and was en route for Antwerp when she was intercepted by a Royal Navy cruiser off Falmouth, and taken to the Thames. Guano, normally used as fertiliser, could help to make explosives.

The Dovenby was among the last ships from the great age of sail, when Britannia ruled the waves. Ships such as the Cutty Sark had once been the fastest afloat. By 1914, when the Dovenby sank, that title belonged to steamships. Windpower was cheap and still useful for hauling heavy bulk cargoes, so steel-hulled sailing ships were built. Between 1870 and 1920, 60 per cent of all new ships were British, and in 1914 the British Merchant Marine was 18.9 million tons, four times the size of its biggest rival, Germany.

The Dovenby was being led into the Thames when a fog bank rolled out. With almost no visibility, she dropped all sail and drifted. Suddenly the bow of the steamship Sindoro appeared and the two ships collided. The Dovenby sank in less than three minutes, with her helmsman aboard.

SS Letchworth

Boats such as the Aisha, though valiant, were scant defence against the Luftwaffe. On November 1, 1940, five bombers thundered above the collier SS Letchworth as she headed into London with a cargo of coal, part of a convoy delivering vital supplies to London's power stations. Eight bombs whistled into the water around the Letchworth, but the ninth scored a hit.

Other boats in the convoy - as many as 60 ships would sail together for security - rescued the crew and set them ashore on the tip of nearby Southend Pier, before continuing towards London. But when the bedraggled sailors appeared at the base of the pier in Southend, locals thought they were spies. They didn't believe there had been a shipwreck - the pier is the longest in the UK, and the plight of the Letchworth had gone unnoticed. Eventually, suspicions allayed, a shopkeeper took pity and clothed them.

Thames barges

Brick barge: There's a warehouse development next to Tower Bridge where the residents are campaigning to have the Thames barges removed from the riverside. They are, apparently, an eyesore. What the owners of these waterfront pads don't realise is that Thames barges built the warehouse that they live in. What we now call the brick barge dates from the mid-19th century. Once there were more than 2,000 on the river, but it took only two skilled watermen to guide these huge vessels. The brick barge has a distinguished lineage, going back to a Roman version found during developments in Blackfriars, and others carried the bricks used to rebuild London after the Great Fire in 1666.

The Mystery Wreck: It represents the majority of the 600 or more wrecks in the Thames, charismatic skeletons that speak about the time and place from which they set sail. She's a Thames barge, and the crew liked a party: on board was an empty take-out from the Crown and Anchor pub in Woolwich, a whole jar of gin.

Pottery Wreck
If the Thames barge was well adapted for its role as a long-haul truck, the so-called Pottery wreck was the pinnacle of evolution for the shrimp fishermen of Gravesend. Though just a few fragments of pottery and a soup-bowl were found on the site, it's the structure of this boat that's so extraordinary. Bawley boats, as they're known, are a fishing smack perfectly adapted for a one-man shrimping operation, with a boomless sail to allow room for hauling. They were found only in Gravesend, and only one true Bawley remains afloat today.

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