Robert Paul began his career as a wharfinger in Ipswich during the 1840s. Upon his death in 1864 at the age of fifty-eight, his sons Robert, aged nineteen, and William, aged fifteen, demonstrated considerable entrepreneurial spirit. Over the following fifty years, they expanded their trade in grain, malt, coal, manufactured goods, and animal feed between East Anglia and the Pool of London. They also developed a fleet comprising coasting barges, tugs, lighters, and steamships, many constructed at their Dock End yard in Ipswich.

The Ena was built in 1906 by W. McLearon at the Navy Yard slip in Harwich. R & W Paul purchased the vessel for £875 and invested an additional £232 in fitting her out. The vessel was rigged as a mulie, a hybrid between a substantial ketch and a spritsail barge. She featured a tall mizzen mast with a large gaff sail positioned well forward of the wheel, complemented by a smaller spritsail.

During World War I, the R & W Paul fleet transported a wide range of supplies to British armies on the European continent. Frequently, up to 100 barges were engaged in loading and unloading operations at Boulogne and Dieppe. The barges’ shallow draft allowed access to shallow waters, reducing the risk of sinking by mines. German U-boats were often reluctant to reveal their presence or expend torpedoes on sailing barges.

Between the wars, vessels like the Ena largely avoided the economic hardships of the depression. This resilience was attributed to the company’s own shipyard, which maintained the barges in excellent condition, and the availability of company cargoes. Each skipper took pride in maintaining the hull, spars, and canvas meticulously.

Two decades later, the R & W Paul barge fleet remained intact, continuing lightering operations on the River Orwell and trading with London docks. The fleet avoided carrying brick rubble from London bombsites, which was used in constructing East Anglian airfields and was known to damage wooden barge linings. Instead, sugar beet and maize were preferred cargoes.

Notably, six of the sixteen barges that sailed to Dunkirk during World War II were owned by R & W Paul. The Ena successfully completed the one-hundred-mile outward journey across the English Channel, which was heavily mined and subjected to constant air attacks. Upon arrival, skipper Alfred Page was ordered to beach the vessel near the smaller sand barge H.A.C. As German forces advanced, crews from both barges were instructed to abandon their ships and escape to England aboard a minesweeper.

Two eyewitness accounts describe subsequent events. Alex Smith recalled arriving on La Panne beach with 30 men of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment, commanded by Captain David Strangeways. They found the two barges in seaworthy condition and took possession of the H.A.C., while Colonel McKay and his men of the 19th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery boarded the Ena, beached nearby.

Captain Atley of the East Yorkshire Regiment also recounted the event. From the mole at Dunkirk, he and a comrade fashioned a raft and rowed out to the Ena. They assisted 36 men aboard, including three wounded, and by 0800 hours the vessel was under sail.

According to Alex Smith, the two barges engaged in one of the most remarkable barge races of all time, crossing the Channel under constant enemy bombardment and machine-gun fire. Captain Atley noted that by midnight they realized they had sailed too far southwest after taking a back-bearing on Dunkirk. Having only sailing experience on the Broads, he had forgotten to lower the leeboards. They corrected course to north-northwest, sighted the North Goodwin buoy, then tacked towards the South Goodwin lightship.

Eventually, the Ena was intercepted by a tug or fleet auxiliary and taken into Margate. Due to a full harbour, the empty barge was towed out and anchored off Deal. The R & W Paul shipping manager, who had presumed the Ena lost at Dunkirk, was surprised to learn of her survival and inquired about recovery plans. Alfred Page, back in Ipswich, was dispatched to retrieve the vessel. He found the Ena seaworthy but stripped of all gear, including sweeps, mooring lines, fenders, and even his false teeth left by his bunk. He then sailed her back to Ipswich.

In 1974, the Ena was transferred to the Social and Sports Club of R & W Paul. She continued to compete in sailing barge races on the Thames, Medway, Blackwater, and Orwell, preserving the tradition of spritsail barges. The vessel was last known to be on the Medway in poor condition.