[3][4] Suffolk Ferry was the first diesel powered ship built for the London and North Eastern Railway.

With the nationalisation of the railways in the United Kingdom in 1948, ownership of Suffolk Ferry passed to the British Transport Commission.

[4] On 2 January 1956, the Liberian tanker Melody ran aground off Vlissingen, Zeeland, Netherlands.

[7] On 6 May 1961, Suffolk Ferry rescued all four people from the British yacht Sugar Creek in the North Sea off the Cork Lightship.

[4] On 8 October 1965, Suffolk Ferry rescued nine of the thirteen crew of the German coastal tanker Unkas, which had collided with the Swedish cargo ship Marieholm in the North Sea 35 nautical miles (65 km) off the coast of the Netherlands.