These small craft (fishing boats, private yachts, ferries, launches and tugs) braved enemy fire and storms to shuttle men from knee-deep surf out to the larger destroyers waiting offshore. By 4 June, that improvised armada had carried over 338,000 troops to safety.
To gather every possible boat, the government issued an urgent appeal. On 14 May 1940 the BBC broadcast an order for “all owners of self-propelled pleasure craft between 30′ and 100′” to report to the Admiralty if their boats were available.
Within days naval planners and local shipyards were ringing around the coasts. Boatbuilders and clubs on the Thames and southern ports scoured marinas and yards for shallow-draft craft. Many owners volunteered their yachts and launches, often insisting on sailing aboard them.
Read Lawrence Schäffler’s Boating New Zealand 2020 article, Return to Dunkirk, about the five-year extensive restoration of a lifeboat from one of the ships involve in the 1940 Dunkirk evacuation.
Others woke to find the Navy had requisitioned their pleasure boat without warning. By 27 May a flotilla of roughly 700–850 private craft was assembled at Ramsgate (and other Kent ports) ready to sail for Dunkirk. Each boat was checked for seaworthiness, fuelled, given a Navy crew of ratings or volunteers, and dispatched. Civilians and Royal Navy alike worked side by side, knowing every hour counted.
The Little Ships’ job was simple but deadly: ferry soldiers from the open beach to the larger ships anchored off shore. In practice, this often meant rowing or motoring out into long waves while under bombardment. German dive-bombers and artillery frequently strafed the beaches, and mines lay hidden in the shallows. At times the heavy wash from escorting destroyers threatened to swamp the little boats. For example, on her return trip Captain Charles Lightoller had to evade both enemy aircraft and the churning wake of fast destroyers as he steered his Sundowner back to Ramsgate.
The Royal Air Force flew patrols over Dunkirk around the clock, in a desperate bid to ward off Luftwaffe attacks so that these small rescue craft could operate. Losses were suffered – a few destroyers and many aircraft were shot down – but the human cost on Britain’s side was staggeringly reduced by this civilian effort. Without the little ships rowing through shellfire, thousands more troops might never have escaped.
Notable Little Ships
Medway Queen – A former Kentish pleasure paddle steamer, Medway Queen was requisitioned by the Minesweeping Flotilla. She came to be known as the “Heroine of Dunkirk.” Over nine days Medway Queen made an astonishing seven round trips between Dunkirk and England. On one night her crew even shot down a German bomber on the way home, and rescued all 225 men aboard the battered ferry Brighton Belle after it sank on a wreck. Altogether Medway Queen is credited with saving about 7,000 soldiers (roughly 1,000 per trip). Her 1938 conversion from coal to oil firing gave her extra range, enabling those marathon crossings. Today the restored Medway Queen is a museum ship in Kent, a rare surviving paddle steamer and floating memorial to that desperate week. Check out their Facebook page, Medway Queen Restoration Project.
Sundowner – This 58-foot motor yacht belonged to Captain Charles Lightoller (the retired second officer of the Titanic). On 31 May 1940 the Admiralty requisitioned Sundowner. Lightoller, then 66, insisted that he, his son Roger and a teenaged Sea Scout sail her to Dunkirk. In one daring trip, Sundowner took on 130 men – 75 jammed into the cabin and 55 on deck – all the way back to Ramsgate. (They were “packed together like sardines,” one veteran recalled.) Lightoller steered through flak and strafing fighters, performing evasive maneuvers to keep the overloaded yacht afloat. That single crossing saved far more lives than the yacht’s normal peacetime capacity. After the war Sundowner passed between owners but was eventually preserved; today she is exhibited at the Ramsgate Maritime Museum to honour her part in 1940.
Tamzine – A tiny 15-foot clinker-built fishing dinghy, Tamzine was the smallest vessel to take part in the evacuation. Owned by fisherman Noah Cridland of Margate, she was plucked from local service and sent to Dunkirk. Tamzine’s stable open design (built by Margate boatbuilders Brockman & Titcomb) was well-suited to short trips to the beaches. Crewed by Cridland and his crew, Tamzine rowed dozens of soldiers out from the water to larger boats waiting offshore. After the war Tamzine came home full of stories (and reportedly drenched in the blood of wounded troopers). She survives today in the Imperial War Museum collection – still flying the special Dunkirk Jack and bearing plaques for “Dunkirk 1940” – as a humble symbol of the courage shown by ordinary sailors.
The Association of Dunkirk Little Ships
In peacetime the surviving Little Ships formed the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships (ADLS) to honour that shared history. As the Association declares, its object is “to keep alive and preserve for posterity the memory and identity of those ‘Little Ships'” that took part in Operation Dynamo (and the related evacuations). Members today include owners of every type of Dunkirk boat – from fishing trawlers and pleasure yachts to working barges and ex-RN lifeboats – all proudly flying the Dunkirk pennant.
Each spring in anniversary years the ADLS stages a reunion flotilla. Starting with 1965’s 25th anniversary, the boats have gathered every five years for a commemorative crossing to Dunkirk. (For example, an eighty-ship fleet sailed in 2015 for the 75th; the 80th anniversary in 2020 was cancelled due to Covid, but over 75 Little Ships are set to return for the 85th in 2025.) These events – with Royal Navy escorts and ceremonies in both Britain and France – keep the Dunkirk story alive. The ADLS also meticulously researches and records each Little Ship’s wartime service, salvages historic details and, when possible, helps restore old boats. Through these efforts the spirit of Dunkirk lives on, celebrated by mariners who remember that moment when every small boat became a lifeboat.
The Little Ships to return to Dunkirk for 85th Anniversary commemoration
This May, the narrow waters of the English Channel will once again echo with the sound of engines and the sight of small boats heading toward Dunkirk—not for rescue, but remembrance.
To mark the 85th anniversary of Operation Dynamo, more than 75 Dunkirk Little Ships will make the commemorative journey from Ramsgate to Dunkirk, departing at 6am BST on 21 May (2025). They are expected to arrive in Dunkirk by 4pm local time, where a packed programme of tribute and ceremony awaits. The return voyage is scheduled for Monday 26 May.
The 85th Anniversary Return is being organised under the themes: Commemorate, Celebrate, and Educate. And it’s not just a private affair. The Little Ships will be escorted across the Channel by a Royal Navy “Guard of Honour”—specifically, seven P2000 patrol vessels from the Coastal Forces Squadron. The RNLI will also be part of the fleet, acknowledging the longstanding relationship between Britain’s volunteer lifeboat crews and the Navy in times of crisis.
Spectators in both the UK and France can expect ceremonial salutes, memorial services, wreath-layings, and public engagement activities centred around the port of Dunkirk. It’s all aimed at preserving the legacy of Operation Dynamo for a new generation—especially as the number of surviving veterans continues to decline.
The Association of Dunkirk Little Ships
The Association of Dunkirk Little Ships (ADLS) was formed in 1966 to maintain and celebrate the surviving fleet. Each Little Ship accepted into the association must have verifiable involvement in the 1940 evacuation. These boats are more than historic artefacts—they are preserved and, where possible, still seaworthy. Many retain their original lines and fittings; some have been lovingly rebuilt plank by plank.
A Living Legacy
Events like this serve not only as commemoration but also as education. Younger generations—many of whom know Dunkirk primarily from films or classroom lessons—get the chance to see and step aboard real boats that were part of that epic moment. It’s hands-on history with a heartbeat.
And it also serves as a reminder: courage doesn’t always come in uniform. The Little Ships were crewed by everyday people—fishermen, ferry captains, amateur sailors—who didn’t wait to be asked. They simply went.
Sources: Contemporary naval records and historical analyses describe the 338,000+ soldiers rescued (iwm.org.uk, britannica.com,) the short-wave appeals to boat owners (adls.org.uk, en.wikipedia.org,) and the sorties of the civilian flotilla (iwm.org.uk, en.wikipedia.org.) Details of individual vessels come from historic accounts and the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships archives (medwayqueen.co.uk, iwm.org.uk, mby.org.uk.)
Such an interesting article .
Thank you.
I wonder if names were recorded of the rescued soldiers.
My father in law was one of the lucky ones ‘
Kind Regards
Jean Holgate