A vessel which was restored in Chatham will today return to the waters where she made history carrying Sir Winston Churchill’s coffin 50 years ago.

In 1965, the Havengore was chosen to carry the coffin containing the body of the treasured Second World War leader up the Thames as part of his state funeral.

The lowering of the cranes in silent tribute as Churchill’s coffin passed down the river became one of the most iconic images from the ceremony.

Following this honour, the Havengore became the longest serving Port of London Authority vessel, before finally being decommissioned in 1995 when it was bought by New Zealander Owen Palmer.

On a visit to the UK, Mr Palmer spotted an advertisement for the Havengore and recognised it as the ship which had carried Churchill's coffin.

The next day, with only a few hours before flying home, Owen, a business entrepreneur in his home country, and his wife were on board the vessel which was in a very sorry state.

Shocked that nobody in Britain seemed prepared to save part of the country’s heritage, they placed a successful tender and a month later were the owners of Havengore.

The vessel was moved to Chatham Maritime and the extent of the deterioration soon became clear.

Built by Toughs of Teddington in 1956, the hull and engines were sound, but the deck, superstructure and interior needed a total restoration.

At first, Owen hoped he could manage the rebuilding from Australia, where he lived for much of the year, but he soon realised the ship’s future could be properly secured only by administration within the UK.

So, in 1997 Owen and his wife moved to Medway. It wasn’t long before the Churchill societies around the world took a keen interest in what Owen was doing.

The Churchill College in Cambridge came to visit and arranged access to the Churchill Archives.

As a result, a 100-day exhibition of archive documents relevant to Medway was presented in 2000 by the Havengore Trust at the St George’s Centre in Chatham Maritime.

By then, the Havengore was externally as she had been in service and, with her powerful twin diesel engines rebuilt, began to appear at various events including prestigious occasions on the Thames.

In 2005, the vessel was involved in the event on the Thames to mark the 40th anniversary of Churchill’s funeral with his great-granddaughter, Sophie Perkins and other members of the family on board.

Today the Havengore will re-create the journey along the Thames once more. The vessel will carry members of his family to Westminster, as part of a day of events in central London.

Tower Bridge will be raised at 12.45pm as the Havengore repeats its 1965 journey from the Tower of London to Westminster.

A service will be held once it reaches the waters opposite the Palace of Westminster.

While based in Medway, the Havengore took underprivileged children on river trips and was used by families to scatter the ashes of their loved ones into the River Medway from the deck.

It was later owned by businessman Chris Ryland and used as a prestige river transport and hospitality venue based on the Thames.