SS Invicta ( 1939 ) Invicta was a passenger ferry built in 1939 for the Southern Railway and requisitioned on completion by the Admiralty for use as a troopship , serving during the Second World War as HMS " Invicta " . She was returned to the Southern Railway in 1945 and passed to British Railways in 1948 . With the introduction to TOPS ( a new numbering system ) in 1968 , " Invicta " was one of 14 " locomotives " classified as Class 99 . She was allocated TOPS Number 99 010 . " Invicta " served on the Dover - Calais route from 1946 until 1972 when she was withdrawn from service and scrapped . Description . " Invicta " was ordered on 13 February 1939 from William Denny & Bros Ltd , Dumbarton . She was built as yard number 1344 and was launched on 14 December 1939 . Completion was in June 1940 . " Invicta " was long , with a beam of and a depth of . She was 4 , 178 GRT and 1 , 982 NRT . She had a draught of . She was powered by four Parson ' s turbines , which were built by Denny ' s . The four turbines drove twin screw propellors through single reduction gearing and had a total power output of . These gave " Invicta " a speed of . Steam was supplied by two Yarrow water tube boilers operating at . Originally coal fired , the boilers were converted to oil in 1946 . History . " Invicta " was completed in June 1940 . She was then requisitioned by the Admiralty and departed Dumbarton on 27 June for Clynder , where she was laid up on the River Clyde , although technically she had been delivered to the Southern Railway on 1 July . In 1941 , it was decided to convert " Invicta " to a Landing Ship , Infantry . The work was carried out by Barclay , Curle & Co Ltd , Elderslie . Following conversion , " Invicta " could carry six LCAs and 250 troops . " Invicta " was allocated the Code Letters GLJG and the United Kingdom Official Number 167606 . Her port of registry was London . On 3 June 1943 , " Invicta " was commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS " Invicta " . She took part in the Dieppe Raid on 19 August 1942 , landing soldiers from The South Saskatchewan Regiment on Green Beach . In October 1943 , HMS " Invicta " was assigned to Force J in preparation for Operation Overlord . Her Code Letters were changed to GLJQ during this time . On 6 June 1944 , " Invicta " was part of 510 Flotilla . She carried members of the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade to Juno Beach , Courseulles - sur - Mer . Amongst those on board " Invicta " was Richard Pirrie , the first Australian to be killed on D - Day . Also on board , was war correspondent Robert Raymond . " Invicta " was decommissioned on 9 October 1945 and returned to the Southern Railway . " Invicta " was refitted ready for service , but she was chartered by the Government on 26 December 1945 for use as a troopship , bringing demobbed troops back from Calais , France to Dover . On 27 December she collided with in Dover . On 23 April 1946 , " Invicta " departed for Walker where she was to be refitted by Vickers - Armstrongs Ltd . During the refit , she was converted from coal to oil fuel . " Invicta " departed the Tyne on 14 October and made her first peacetime crossing of the Channel the next day , replacing on the Dover - Calais route . In 1947 , another refit saw " Invicta " fitted with stablilisers . These had been part of the original design but were omitted due to her rapid construction . On 1 January 1948 , ownership of " Invicta " passed to the British Transport Commission on the Nationalisation of the Railways . She was now operated by British Railways , remaining on the Dover - Calais route . In January 1959 , " Invicta " suffered minor damage in a collision with the pier at Calais . On 1 January 1963 , ownership of " Invicta " passed to the British Railways Board following the dissolution of the British Transport Commission . On 26 April 1963 , " Invicta " was the first ship to pass through the western entrance of Dover Harbour following the removal of Second World War blockship s . " Invicta " appeared in the comedy film " San Ferry Ann " , which was released in 1966 . In 1967 , " Invicta " was repainted into the new Sealink livery , with a blue hull , white superstructure and red funnel with the double arrow logo . With the introduction of TOPS in 1968 , Sealink ships were classed as locomotives for TOPS purposes , being allocated Class 99 . On 23 May 1970 , " Invicta " was chartered for a trip to Ostend , Belgium . With the introduction of TOPS Numbers in 1972 , " Invicta " was allocated 99 010 . She made her last revenue - earning voyages on 8 August 1972 . She was then laid up at Newhaven , East Sussex pending a sale . Although a Greek company showed interest in buying her she remained unsold . She was sold to Machinehandel en Scheepssloperij de Koophandel , Rotterdam , Netherlands and departed from Newhaven on 21 September under tow from the tug " Michel Petersen " , bound for Nieuw Lekkerland . " Invicta " was resold and scrapped at Brugge , Belgium .