Shallow draught. Paddle steamers were very useful at Dunkirk, big boats that could get very close to the beach and embark the evacuees directly. Clearly not en

Shallow draught. Paddle steamers were very useful at Dunkirk, big boats that could get very close to the beach and embark the evacuees directly. Clearly not enough of an advantage to keep using them, but Waverley was built for a route already being serviced by a fleet of three other paddle steamers, and presumably a screw ship would've required some operational changes, so it's easy to imagine the company deciding to stick with what they knew rather than get with the times.