Varlet is one of 12 Jubilee Class river tugs built by James Pollock & Sons from the mid-1930s onwards until 1950, Varlet being built in 1937. The Jubilee Class were among the first Thames tugs to have diesel engines, although some of the 12 went abroad most worked along the Thames docks area then a major trade hub.
Varlet itself worked for most of its career for the lighterage company Vokins & Co at West India and Royal Docks and the River Lea. During WW2 it was used by the Admiralty as a fire-fighting ship on the Thames though returned to its owners in 1946.
When Vokins ceased trading in the 1970s Varlet was owned by Albert Coffey of Ilford and finally Keith Morez at Dartford. Varlet continued working along the Thames until the 1980s. In 1986 it was preserved at West India Quay as part of the Museum of London's maritime collection where it remains to this day.
