Naval Staff History No. 41, the official historical study of the evacuation from Dunkirk during Operation Dynamo, 26 May–4 June 1940, dated 1949.
Source: The National Archives, Kew, ADM 234/360. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
1 matching pages. OCR may contain transcription errors.
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WEDNESDAY, 29TH MAY |
Unformatted machine-generated OCR for document page 73.
WEDNESDAY, 29TH MAY CHAP. VI M/B Sceneshifter swamped and lost The M/B Silver Moon, from Ramsgate, arrived off the beaches at 0800 and ferried troops to ships at anchor. Without charts or compass she returned to Ramsgate that night. The M/B Sceneshifter, on arrival, was rushed by French troops, swamped, and became a total loss. M/B Viewfinder dragged aground and lost The six motor yachts, Advance, Bobeli, Elizabeth Green, Hanora, Reda and Viewfinder sailed from Dover for La Panne beach and were machine-gunned from the air off Gravelines. They arrived off La Panne beach at about 1500/29, and at once began towing whalers full of troops to off-lying ships. At 1830, the Viewfinder was dragged aground by Belgian soldiers and became a total loss. M/B's Hanora and Bobeli abandoned At 1900, the Hanora fouled her propeller and was abandoned; her crew transferred to the Elizabeth Green and thence to the minesweeper Lydd. At 1900 also, the dr. Sabre requisitioned the Advance and embarked in her a W/T transmitter and 2 operators for transportation to G.H.Q. at La Panne. The Reda, having ferried troops, sailed for Ramsgate at 2200 with 21 troops on board. The Bobeli having received some damage while alongside a destroyer which suddenly went full ahead on account of an air attack, subsequently fouled her screw and rudder; she made fast. to the minesweeper Albury, but was abandoned when the Albury departed and became stranded on the beach. The Elizabeth Green and Advance sailed in company that night for Ramsgate. M/B Glitter II brings drinking water The Glitter II arrived off Bray beach at 1600 on the 29th May, loaded with tins of fresh water. She then ferried troops. Next day she lost her rudder and was towed to Dover by a drifter. M/B Queen of England sunk A number of other small motor craft left Southend, Sheerness or Dover for the beaches on the 29th May, but did not arrive until 30th May. Among them was the Shamrock, and in company with her were the Princess Maud, Canvey Queen and Queen of England. On the way over on the night of the 29th/30th May the Queen of England was rammed amidships by the skoot Tilly and sank immediately ; her crew were picked up by the Shamrock and transferred to the Tilly1. The remaining three motor boats were all abandoned and lost next day after ferrying troops to various destroyers, among them the Anthony; the Canvey Queen and Shamrock fouled their propellers, and the Princess Maud went aground. The Mirasol², alongside Dunkirk mole, was damaged by a near miss. She was taken in tow by a trawler, but later sank. Other M/B's that sailed for the beaches on 29th May The Triton and Silver Queen, with 6 motor launches in company, sailed for La Panne at 2200. Three of the motor launches broke down on the way over I Shamrock's report, unconfirmed. The name of the vessel is in doubt; the matter is not referred to in Tilly's report. 2 Commonly, but erroneously referred to in reports as the " Marasole." 53