Another collection of pictures I took at the 70th anniversary in Dunkirk were of all the 'Little Ships' that made the crossing from Ramsgate. I have quite a few books now on the naval side of things (Sources are The Ships That Saved an Army, BEF Ships before, at and after Dunkirk, The Evacuation From Dunkirk and The Little Ships of Dunkirk) so I thought I'd share the pictures and a little bit of history about each one that made the journey to save an Army. The ships are listed in the order that they arrived into the Basin at Dunkirk.
Boat Type: Motor Yacht Boat Length: 40ft 6ins Boat Beam: 10ft 3ins Boat Draft: 4ft 6ins Boat Displacement: 15 tons Boat Engine: 2x 60hp Thornycroft Boat Construction: Teak Boat Builder: J Samuel White, Cowes IoW Boat Year: 1936 Not much appears to be recorded about her time at Dunkirk but what is know is she was taken to the Tough Brothers at Teddington Boat Yard for repair after Dunkirk in 1940 along with Tigris I and is now owned today by the same family. She was found in Ramsgate harbour with her wheelhouse badly burnt and the original charts used by the unknown crew still in her chart draw. Rather than repair the wheelhouse it was removed and she was used as a tug until 1944. She was then purchased by the Tough family and returned to her former glory. She was re-named Tigris III and was one of the first boats to vist Calais after the war.
Boat Type: Motor Yacht Boat Length: 42ft Boat Beam: 10ft Boat Draft: 4ft 2ins Boat Displacement: 18 tons Boat Engine: 2 x BMC 3.8l Diesels Boat Construction: Steel Boat Builder: de Vries Lentsch jun. Amsterdam. Boat Year: 1934 Sadly all that is recorded is that she took part in Operation Dynamo.
Boat Type: Naval Pinnace Boat Length: 30ft Boat Beam: 8ft 3ins Boat Draft: 3ft 6ins Boat Displacement: 8.85 tons Boat Engine: Perkins 4-108 Diesel Boat Construction: Teak on rock elm and oak Boat Builder: J White & Son, Cowes, IoW. Boat Year: 1914 Built during the early months of World War I, with a steam engine, she was delivered to Harland & Wolff, Belfast, to be with her first mother ship, HMS Sir John Moore, in 1915. Her next ship, HMS Raglan, was sunk but MB 278 survived and she stayed in Malta for a further five years when she then joined the battleship Iron Duke in the Mediterranean. She then went on to HMS Barnham and later to HMS Resolution, in the Atlantic. In 1929 she had a major refit in Malta and then joined the battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth in 1930. Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War she was attached to HMS Erebus and almost missed the Dunkirk evacuations when she was crushed in an accident in Portsmouth dockyard and sank, in March 1940. When she was hauled to the surface, her hull was badly damaged, however she was quickly repaired and received a new engine and eventually took part in Operation Dynamo. Until recently she was known as the Susan K but her new owner re-named her back to MB 278. Also visble until her refit this year was a row of bullet holes in her hull made by a German machine gun. The refit and name change was done in time for the 70th Anniversary.
Boat Type: Motor Yacht Boat Length: 29ft 6ins Boat Beam: 8ft 6ins Boat Draft: 3ft Boat Displacement: 5.73 tons Boat Engine: New Engine Boat Construction: Carvel, mahogany on oak Boat Builder: Boats & Cars, Kingston Ltd Boat Year: 1938 Owned at one time by Raymond Baxter of Fighter Command and TV presenter fame. At some point after Operation Dynamo a French Rifle was found in one of the ship's lockers which helped to identify she lifted troops from Dunkirk.
Boat Type: Motor Yacht Boat Length: 34ft 2ins Boat Beam: 8ft 8ins Boat Draft: 3ft 6ins Boat Displacement: 11.5 tons Boat Engine: 2 x BL Diesels Boat Construction: Larch on oak Boat Builder: Cliff & Jones, Castleford Boat Year: 1930 At the time of the Dunkirk evacuations, Lazy Days was owned by M. Lazarus and spent three days ferrying troops from 'East Beach' under regular air attack. She returned to England with considerable damage having many of her ribs broken at the waterline. After Dunkirk, she was remained in the service of the Royal Navy and while on parachute mine patrol, she was the subject of a mutiny. From ADSL Her Petty Officer, who was a hard-bitten, yacht skipper, took exception to the green young Lieutenant who came aboard when she was duty boat. The PO had a pint too many at lunchtime and when the young Lieutenant nagged him about the course he was steering, he hit him. He was sentenced at a Chatham Court Martial to 90 days in the glasshouse. But while being escorted from Chatham to Bristol, he gave his escort the slip and disappeared. *If anyone comes across any information regarding this Mutiny please let me know-I'd love to find out what happened to the Petty Officer.
Boat Type: Motor Yacht Boat Length: 26ft Boat Beam: 8ft 6ins Boat Draft: 3ft Boat Displacement: 5 tons Boat Engine: Chrysler petrol Boat Construction: Mahogany on oak Boat Builder: Chrysler Marine Co, Michigan USA Boat Year: 1934 Purchased by the comedian Tommy Trinder in 1939. The boat was kept at Shoreham, Sussex until she was requisitioned by the Royal Navy for Operation Dynamo and was taken to Dunkirk by her owner.
Boat Type: Motor Yacht Boat Length: 29ft 6ins Boat Beam: 10ft Boat Draft: 3ft 8ins Boat Displacement: 10.9 tons Boat Engine: 2 x BMC 2.5L Diesels Boat Construction: Teak on rock elm Boat Builder: K R Skentelberg, Plymouth Boat Year: 1938 Tom Tit's part in Operation Dynamo is not on any record because Ron Tomlinson and his brother Alan took her on the spur of the moment and without authority on 1st June 1940 from Ramsgate Pier. Ron had been to Dunkirk the day before as the engineer on the trawler Tankerton Towers skippered by J. Hannaford which was towed back with some fifty French and British soldiers after her propeller had been fouled. After the troops were disembarked at Ramsgate, Ron went home for something to eat and to clean up. Ron then teamed up with his brother, Alan, and they went down to the Admiralty office in the harbour and volunteered to go again. The Admiralty office sent them off in a tiny boat with a young Naval Officer who made them turn back. As they came back into Ramsgate harbour, Ron saw Tom Tit tied up at the end of the breakwater and urged his brother to join him when he jumped across into her. Their elder brother Fred was standing on the pier and saw what they were doing and warned them that one of the ship's engines had been on fire and it may not be too wise to take her, but before anyone could stop them, Ron and Alan had got under way and were again heading straight for the Goodwin Sands. As they were heading to the Sands they noticed a petrol leak which is what caused the original fire in the engine. They turned the engine off and repaired the leak. However due to the delay they had lost time with the tide running out. They touched the sea bed a few times before they cleared the shallows, but reached Dunkirk safely. They filled up her up with soldiers and transfered them out to the big ships waiting further off shore. After some sixteen journey's a Sergeant Major on the jetty told them not to come back anymore because the Germans were on the pier. Ron and Alan told him they'd keep coming while he was still on the pier. On the last trip they persuaded the Sergeant Major to join them. The following morning they arrived in Ramsgate and expected to be arrested for stealing Tom Tit, but the Senior Naval Officer congratulated them and said he wished he could have had more like them. Ron Tomlinson had his recollections of Operation Dynamo recorded and stored in the Imperial War Museums Sound Archives. The lead up to the first trip to Dunkirk in Tankerton Towers: Halfway through a film, a flash came up on to the screen: "Anybody in Ramsgate trawlers, please report to the Admiralty Office at once." I took no notice, because our trawler had no water in the boilers and no coal in the bunkers. Somebody nudged me in the back and said, "Ron, that means you!" "It can't mean me," I said, "Because we're blown down." But after the film I went down to the Admiralty Office, to find out what it was all about. "What ship are you off?" they said. I told them I was the engineer on the Tankerton Towers. "Could you go round and let the crew know to be down here at half-past five in the morning? Because we need a ship." They didn't say why they needed it. I didn't know anything about Dunkirk. So I went round and by the time we got aboard at half-past five, there was steam blowing from the boiler, there was coal in the bunkers and there were two Lieutenants waiting for us. The Navy had done all that during the night. The Lieutenants asked, "What have you got on board?" We said, " Nothing." They said, "We'll have to find something to give the boys a cup of tea when they come on board." We didn't know what they were talking about. At Dunkirk on the Trawler Tankerton Towers: I was concentrating on going into the pier. I didn't even more up, I just kept the engine running and let them jump aboard. As sson as I got a boatload, I went out to the nearest ship, dropped them, and came back in. I just kept filling up, I had them sitting in the cockpit and on the deck. I couldn't say how many - 40, maybe 50. One poor lad could hardly walk, so we took him down to our cabin and I thought he might aswell have my bunk. But when I looked round, the cabin was absolutely full - everybody had followed me down. An officer said to this lad, " Come on, get out of that bunk! I'm an officer!" So I said, " There's no such thing as officers in these circumstances!" When Ron finally returned to Ramsgate before setting off in the 'borrowed' Tom Tit: We got back into Ramsgate Harbour at about 9.30 on the Saturday morning. We went ashore, and I went through the fish market. As I was walking, a voice says, "Ron!" I said, " Hello Mrs Oliver, how are you, pet?" She says, " Have you seen anything of Dave over there?" I said, "No, love, it'd be a chance in a million to find him. No, I'm sorry."
Boat Type: Passenger Motor Vessel Boat Length: 51ft Boat Beam: 12ft Boat Draft: 3ft 6ins Boat Displacement: 20 tons Boat Engine: Ford Barracuda Diesel Boat Construction: Oak Boat Builder: Short Bros., Rochester Boat Year: 1926 Before the Second World War started the Southern Queen was a working boat out of Folkstone. During Operation Dynamo she was commanded by Sub-Lieutenant B.G.P de Mattos. It is thought that she was towed to Dunkirk by Rika on 1st June, 1940 and returned the same day and then towed to Dunkirk by Sun XI on 2nd June, 1940 and ferried troops from the harbour to the larger ships off shore. After the evacuation of the BEF at Dunkirk she stayed in the service of the Royal Navy until the end of the war. After a short spell, post war, in Folkstone she moved to the Scilly Isles where she was saved from being burned. In 1990 Mr Basil de Mattos wrote a letter to Mr Alec Hicks, the then owner of Southern Queen and clears up a few facts. From ADLS: Dear Mr Hicks, I was recently rather amazed to see the pictures and story of the Southern Queen in 'The Little Ships of Dunkirk'. I thought you might like to hear from a former owner, albeit for just three long days. I refer to her trips to Dunkirk. She was never towed as the article suggests. She did runs to and from in my care and towed the Eastbourne Lifeboat and a motor yacht called Skylark all the way back on the final trip, finding them drifting outside Dunkirk. Finally she towed a Dutch Scoot through the entrance at Dover - her engines seized within half a mile of the entrance, she was full of soldiers. I cannot remember how many trips into Dunkirk harbour we made. It was like a bus service the last night, we took off about 70 Frenchmen at a time from the eastern arm, all with their full equipment. I climbed up onto the wooden harbour wall, trod on someone's fingers and found there were a few hundred chaps lying down! That's how I realised we were under fire - they blew away the ladder I'd just climbed up! I had a marvellous crew of three cadet ratings who manhandled weary and exhausted soldiers like they were sacks. We put them on bigger ships half a mile out. When I arrived in Dover at midnight three days before, by coach from Hove where we were training a Naval Commander gave me a torch (I still have it in my car) and said, 'That's yours, she seems to sink at full tide but they say she goes OK. The exhaust pipe flange had been unbolted for some reason. We re-fitted it in the dark, making gaskets from a sheet of Hallite. The magneto and all electrics were in the care of the landlord of the Hotel de Paris nearby. We drained the engine, put in new oil, fitted the magneto, plugs etc. and believe it or not she fired at about the third pull. I doubt she has the same engine today? We had no chart, no compass that I remember, but I feel we must have had one. The Commander said, 'You know where Dunkirk is don't you?' I said, 'Just east of Calais', that's all I knew. Then we were told to head for the smoke from the burning oil dumps. The wind was from the East for all the week, so the left-hand edge of the smoke was Dunkirk! The wonderful old boat never missed a beat all the time. We motored over each afternoon if I remember, worked all night as a taxi in and out of the harbour (not the Beaches at all), then came back in the early dawn and the morning. I don't remember when we slept. Grub was by courtesy of the aforementioned landlord. I later discovered he was a German who had lived in Dover for many years! I have not been in Scilly since a holiday about 1950 but was there frequently in 1941 in ML184, we were on detached duties and were based in Newlyn, but used St Mary's and Appledore quite a lot. I was a friend of Capt. Roseigh (forgive spelling) of the Scillonian in the war years. Well I hope the old lady is as good as ever and all good luck to you and her. Yours most sincerely, (Signed) Basil de Mattos
Boat Type: Motor Yacht Boat Length: 40ft Boat Beam: 10ft Boat Draft: 3ft 6ins Boat Displacement: Not Known Boat Engine: Perkins 4-236 Diesel Boat Construction: Pitch pine on oak Boat Builder: Gibbs of Teddington Boat Year: 1937 Small craft proceeding up the Thames on 9th June, 1940 after release from Operation Dynamo. Amongst sixteen named boats Ryegate II can be clearly seen at the rear. Bob Hilton was commissioned into the army in 1936 but was soon medically discharged after being badly injured. Not one to give up he was given a second commission but when the military board found out about his injuries he was discharged for a second time. In May 1940 he volunteered to take any available boat to Dunkirk to help with the evacuation after the Admiralty broadcasted a message for assistance. The Admiralty Office insisted on crews of three but Bob Hilton only had one other willing volunteer with him, a red haired man by the name of Shaw. Not to be put off they soon sorted out their problem by buying a few drinks and the offer of some cash to a longshoreman at Tilbury. All they wanted him to do is sign on. They told him once he had done that he could leave or stay with them for the trip to France. The three men were given Ryegate II and found her full of jerry cans and were warned that some of them contained water for the troops on the beaches. At the end of May during the evening they reached Ramsgate where they went ashore to get some stores for the journey. The Womens Volunteer Service had plenty of food but nothing to serve it in. So they 'borrowed' some glasses from a pub and set off for Dunkirk on 31st May, 1940. Bob Hilton recalls: "It was just like Piccadilly Circus, there were masses of ships going to-and-fro. There was no need to navigate, we just followed the others. We just got on with the job, which was to sail in as close as we could to the shore, pick up all we could carry and ferry them out to the off-lying ships." "After some time, the engine seemed to be seizing up and the tide went out, so we tied up behind a ship called the Horst and used their lifeboat to row ashore to pick up soldiers. Several times we turned over when the men, who had waded out into the water up to their armpits, all grabbed our boat by the gunwales to climb aboard. In the end we were ordered home, packed like sardines, in a small steamer." After Operation Dynamo Bob Hilton joined up again, this time successfully in the Royal Navy, received the King's commission for the third time and won the DSC at the rank of Lt. Commander RNVR.
Boat Type: Motor Yacht Boat Length: 45ft Boat Beam: 12ft Boat Draft: 4ft Boat Displacement: 23 tons Boat Engine: 2x BMC Diesel Boat Construction: Pitch pine on oak Boat Builder: Watercraft of Molesey Boat Year: 1938 Shortly after being launched on the River Thames the Second World War started and Gay Venture was requisitioned to become His Majesty's Yacht Gay Venture - a Royal Navy Patrol Ship in the Thames Estuary. Her owner Douglas Briault of pre-war Motor Racing fame later joined the Royal Navy and one point of note in his naval career was that he took part in the raid on St Nazaire as skipper of a Naval mine-laying craft. Gay Venture caught fire when returning from France. The fire was thought to have been an accident started by some of the troops using a coal fire stove that fed a central heating system onboard the yacht.
Boat Type: Motor Yacht Boat Length: 35ft Boat Beam: 9ft 8ins Boat Draft: 3ft 6ins Boat Displacement: 8.7 tons Boat Engine: 2 x Perkins 4-236 Diesels Boat Construction: Carvel Pitch pine on oak Boat Builder: E.F. Elkins, Christchurch Boat Year: 1935 Very little is known about Wanda and her part in Operation Dynamo other than she ferried troops off the beaches during Saturday 1st June 1940. After Dunkirk it is thought she was fitted with a Bofors gun (To big in my opinion - perhaps it was a Oerlikon gun) and patrolled and piloted boats in Portland Harbour , it is believed that she was fitted with a Bofors gun and used on patrol and pilot boat duties in Portland harbour. Her service with the Royal Navy came to an end in 1946.
Boat Type: Motor Yacht Boat Length: 30ft Boat Beam: 9ft 6ins Boat Draft: 2ft 9ins Boat Displacement: 8 tons Boat Engine: Main - Perkins 4-107 Diesel, wing - Beta Marine BD Boat Construction: Pitch pine on oak Boat Builder: Rampart, Southampton Boat Year: 1936 Aureol worked off the beaches at Dunkirk transporting troops to larger ships waiting off shore during Operation Dynamo.
Boat Type: Motor Yacht Boat Length: 57ft 6ins Boat Beam: 10ft 6ins Boat Draft: 4ft 9ins Boat Displacement: 27 tons Boat Engine: 2 x Thornycroft 85hp Diesels Boat Construction: Pitch pine on oak Boat Builder: McGruer & Co., Dumbartonshire Boat Year: 1920 Before the evacuations started at Dunkirk in 1940 Riis 1 was brought by a Royal Navy crew from North Wales to the South Coast to take part in Operation Dynamo. White Heather sailed to Dunkirk on 1st June, 1940, At first she transported troops to larger ships off shore from the beaches and after that she made a further three trips transporting troops from the Dunkirk area to England. After Operation Dynamo was concluded she then took part in Operation Aerial. The final plan to evacuate personel from France and the Channel Islands. However the ADLS website says she took part in the evacuation of the 51st Highland Division at St. Valery which was part of Operation Cycle. After the evacuation of France was complete she was re-named by the Royal Navy as HMS Manatee and was to be used for special operations in the North Sea and English Channel. The Royal Navy carried out a refit including being fitted with fourteen 4-inch sea-cocks in the bilges to facilitate silent and very rapid sinking should her secret operations get compromised.
Boat Type: Motor Yacht Boat Length: 36ft 2ins Boat Beam: 10ft 10ins Boat Draft: 3ft Boat Displacement: 13.84 tons Boat Engine: 2 x Nanni N4.50 engines Boat Construction: Carvel Pitch pine on oak Boat Builder: E G King & Son, Westcliffe-on-Sea Boat Year: 1934 Originally built for Lord Dunhill of the tobbacco industry before the war. At the start of World War Two Lady Gay was taken into service by the Royal Navy and was after several years of being chartered she was finaly aquired in 1942 as a Thames and coastal patrol boat. At the point of becoming a Royal Navy asset she would have been issued a number but it doesn't appear to be recorded in any documentation which makes details of her involvement in Operation Dynamo hard to trace. In 1944 she was laid up and sold after the war in 1946.
Boat Type: Motor Yacht Boat Length: 33ft 6ins Boat Beam: 9ft 1ins Boat Draft: 3ft 5ins Boat Displacement: 12 tons Boat Engine: 2 x BMC Captain Diesels Boat Construction: Carvel Mahogany on oak Boat Builder: E.F. Elkins, Christchurch Boat Year: 1936 Sadly there is next to no information available publicly on this ships involvement in Operation Dynamo.
Boat Type: Thames Passenger Vessel Boat Length: 63ft Boat Beam: 13ft Boat Draft: 3ft 9ins Boat Displacement: 38 tons Boat Engine: Leyland/Thornycroft 402 Boat Construction: Steel Boat Builder: Letchers, Cowes, IoW Boat Year: 1926 If anyone wants to travel on a 'Little Ship' from the evacuations that took place at Dunkirk in 1940 then you can on the Princess Freda. She still works on the River Thames and you can travel on her between Westminster Pier and Kew. Princess Freda was the ideal type of ship for lifting troops off the beaches due to her low profile, shallow draft and broad beam. She was commanded by Sub-Lieut. E.S. Foreman during Operation Dynamo. She kept loading to capacity with troops and transported them to destroyers waiting off shore until her propellor was fouled. The Dutch tug Betje towed her home.
Boat Type: Cornish Lugger Boat Length: 39ft 6ins Boat Beam: 13ft Boat Draft: 5ft Boat Displacement: 18 tons Boat Engine: Ford 6 cyl 120hp Diesel Boat Construction: Pitch Pine on Oak Boat Builder: P. Mitchell, Portmellon Boat Year: 1925 Originally setting off for Dunkirk she missed the evacuation and was diverted on route to Le Havre where she transported troops back to England. There is also some information of a Maid Marion lifting troops and civilians from La Pallice on 20th June and arriving at Plymouth two days later but I can't confirm if this is the same ship.
Boat Type: Harbour Ferry Boat Length: 41ft Boat Beam: 12ft 6ins Boat Draft: 3ft Boat Displacement: 12 tons Boat Engine: 3 cyl Lister Diesel Boat Construction: Carvel, Pitch pine on oak Boat Builder: J Harvey, Poole Boat Year: 1939 At 1100hrs on 29th May, 1940, the Ferry Nymph and her sister Southern Queen were carrying passengers in Poole Harbour. At this time the owners of the ferries received a telephone message from the Admiralty ordering both ships to Dover. When the ships arrived at Dover Ferry Nymph was given to Lt. Comdr. Gerrard RN where he quiclky turned th ship around and set off for Dunkirk. Like so many of the little ships that took part in Operation Dynamo, her shallow draft allowed her to get close to the troops waiting on the beaches. She is known to have lifted 72 troops on one ocassion and 90 on another and both lots of troops were taken by her back to Ramsgate. She is recorded in one source as arriving at Ramsgate at 1735hrs on 2nd June, 1940 with 44 troops. After the evacuation of France she was towed back to Poole complete with the scars to show she had taken part in Operation Dynamo. She was also found to have empty cartridge cases and a significant amount of sand from Dunkirk in her bilges.
Boat Type: Cockle Bawley Boat Length: 34ft Boat Beam: 12ft Boat Draft: 3ft 6ins Boat Displacement: 11.78 tons Boat Engine: Ford 80hp Boat Construction: Carvel, Pitch pine on oak Boat Builder: Cole & Wiggens Boat Year: 1926 Captained by F. Hall, Endeavour was part of the Leigh Cockle Bawley boats that set of around 0030hrs on 31st May, 1940 for Dunkirk. She travelled across the Channel using her engines to keep up with the convoy of small ships commanded by a Lieutenant from the Royal Navy. As they neared the French coast they soon attracted attention from the Luftwaffe early morning raids on Dunkirk but the RAF provided air cover and the ships were able to continue. The Endeavour and her fellow Cockle boats played such a full part in Operation Dynamo they were worthy of comment from Admiral Ramsey (see below). Endeavour first took troops from the beach and as the tide was going out she turned her attention to the East Mole and finally went into Dunkirk's inner harbour to rescue troops. At some point her rudder was smashed and along with Letitia and Renown, they were towed back to England by the coaster Ben & Lucy which had also been ferrying troops of the beach working with the cockle boats. Endeavour made it back to Ramsgate with a load of troops. The Cockle Bawley Boats Of the small craft that went over on this day, Admiral Ramsey speaks in the following terms of the Cockle Bawley Boats: "The conduct of the crews of these cockle boats was exemplary. They were all volunteers who were rushed over to Dunkirk in one day, probably none of them had been under gunfire before and certainly none of them under Naval discipline. These boats were Thames estuary fishing boats which never left the estuary, and only one of their crews had been further afield than Ramsgate before. In spite of this fact perfect formation was maintained throughout the day and night under the control of a Sub-Lieutenant RNVR* in command of the Unit, and all orders were carried out with great diligence even under actual shell fire and aircraft attack." *Sub-Lieutenant M H B Solomon, RNVR.
