This is one of the earliest ever photographs taken of Southend’s once swashbuckling attraction, the replica of the Golden Hind - a legendary ship that this time exactly 444 years-ago was on its way to being its circumnavigation the world.

The genuine 16th century Galleon, under the captaincy of famous explorer Sir Francis Drake, left Plymouth in November 1577 and returned three years later with £800,000 worth of treasure.

The image of the Southend replica was taken in June 1949- a few days after the ship had opened to the public.

You can see visitors surrounding the ship and, eager to get on board and explore Southend’s latest seaside attraction, which was built in the hope it would give the town a much needed tourism boost in the economically gloomy post-war years.

The ship was permanently docked on the seafront in the boating pool adjoining Southend Pier. It took Southend men- mostly former seamen -less than two years to build. Some “3,000 fathoms” of rigging was used to build it and onboard was a waxwork exhibition showing how men lived and worked in the confined space of the real warship and how the guns were used in action. There was also a popular waxwork of the knighting of Sir Francis Drake by Queen Elizabeth I.

In the week before the attraction was officially opened to the public hundreds of Southend schoolchildren were invited to explore the vessel and to have the run of the ship for free.

Southend’s Golden Hind gave countless tourists pleasure over the years until its dwindling visitor numbers saw it sink in popularity.

It even became a target for vandals. In 1954, on St Patrick’s Day, the replica ship was wrecked by “marauders” who broke into the attraction and ran amok. Yobs forced their way into the ship and smashed the face of the waxwork model of Queen Elizabeth II.

Not content with that they turned their attention to the models of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth I – in an act of undignified mischief they robbed both waxworks of their wigs.

The assistant manager of the Golden Hind discovered the damage when he turned up for work early the next morning.

As time and tide took its toll on the wooden structure and fashions for what constituted a fun family day-out began to change, ever increasing maintenance costs led to the closure of the Golden Hind in 1997, though for at least five years previously it had become a shadow of its former self. It was eventually scrapped.

Interestingly, when Drake sailed off in his ship in 1577 it wasn’t called the Golden Hind but ‘Pelican’. He renamed it mid-voyage in honour of his patron, Sir Christopher Hatton, whose crest was a golden hind (a female red deer).