WAKEFUL

Important context

These are vessels recorded as having some association or possible involvement with Operation Dynamo. This is not a definitive list of participating ships, and inclusion does not establish that a vessel reached Dunkirk, evacuated personnel or otherwise took part. A source record may exist because a claim was investigated, qualified or rejected; for example, an Orde entry may expressly state that the vessel did not participate. Always review the underlying records and source notes before drawing a conclusion.

The archive and its metadata are still being compiled and are presented as a work in progress. Entries may be incomplete, change as additional material is processed or appear in more than one source record.

Historic logs, handwritten documents, later indexes and transcriptions may contain spelling or identification differences. For example, NIAIAD ERRANT, MAID ERRANT and NAIAD ERRANT refer to the same vessel under variant spellings. Search cautiously, try likely variants and check for multiple records before drawing conclusions.

Cross-collection links and record counts should be treated as candidate matches rather than confirmed vessel identities. Matching may involve case and punctuation normalisation, partial-name or OCR text matches, aliases and associated metadata. A Roman-numeral suffix such as I, II, III, IV or V may be omitted, separated or mistranscribed, causing a base name to match a different numbered vessel. With multi-word names, a candidate may also be returned because only one distinctive word matched. Verify the complete name and numeral against vessel type, dimensions, builder, ownership, dates and the underlying source before merging or relying on records.

Also known as

ORDE: 5 · SCSL: 0 · Lloyd’s: 0 · Red List: 0

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Wikipedia vessel details

Secondary-source table data; verify against primary records where available.

Source table

Name: HMS Wakeful (L91)
Pennant number: L91
Flag: Royal Navy
Description: Destroyer
Built: 1917
Tonnage: 1,100
Commanding officer: Cdr. Ralph Lindsay Fisher, RN
Trips to Dunkirk: 2
Troops landed: 631
Notes: Sunk by E-boat torpedo in the Channel on 29 May

Linked vessel page

Dunkirk-related passages from the linked page

HMS Wakeful was a W-class destroyer of the Royal Navy, built under the 1916–1917 Programme in the 10th Destroyer order. Wakeful was assigned to the Grand Fleet after completion, and served into the early years of the Second World War. Wakeful was torpedoed and sunk during Operation Dynamo by a German E-Boat on 29 May 1940. Wakeful was selected to support Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of allied troops from Dunkirk, on 26 May 1940. On 27 May 1940 Wakeful embarked 631 Allied troops. While returning them to Dover Wakeful came under air attack and received minor damage below the waterline. Despite the near miss Wakeful returned to Dunkirk to continue the evacuation, embarking 640 Allied troops on 28 May 1940. While carrying this out Wakeful was torpedoed by the German E-Boat S-30. The destroyer was struck by two torpedoes, one hitting the forward boiler room. Casualties were heavy, only four of the 640 Allied troops – Sapper Michael Frazer of the Royal Engineers, Mr Stanley Patrick of the Royal Army Service Corps and Mr H.F.R. Ruddell of the Royal Army Service Corps and Mr James 'Jim' Kane of the Royal Tank Regiment [1] plus 25 of Wakeful's crew survived. A number of ships stopped to pick up the survivors, but one of these, the destroyer Grafton, was then in turn sunk by a German U-boat. Winser, John de D. (1999). B.E.F. Ships Before, At and After Dunkirk. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-91-6. 29 May: HMS Grafton, HMS Grenade, Lorina, Mona's Queen, HMS Wakeful 30 May: Fenella, Bourrasque, HMS King Orry, Normannia, HMS Cambrian 31 May: Siroco, U-13 29 May: HMS Bideford, HMS Montrose

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ORDE Registry

5 records

5 potential matching records have been identified.

These records may contain vessel particulars, reported movements, participation assessments, named personnel and source references. A match does not by itself prove that the vessel participated in Operation Dynamo.

“Potential match” means a candidate returned by one or more indexing rules; it is not necessarily an exact identity match. Depending on the source, matching may use a normalised vessel name, a partial text or OCR hit, an alias, or related metadata. Roman-numeral suffixes such as I, II, III, IV and V may be absent, misread or separated from the base name, so records for similarly named vessels can be grouped incorrectly. Multi-word names can also produce candidates where only one significant word matches. Confirm the full name, numeral, vessel type, dimensions, builder, ownership, dates and source context before treating two records as the same vessel.

We are compiling and checking transcriptions, metadata, vessel-name matches, source references and reuse permissions before publishing further detail. This work helps prevent incomplete OCR, historic spelling variations or unverified associations from being presented as established fact.

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Small Craft Service List

0 records

0 potential matching records have currently been identified.

Further indexing may identify service-list entries, vessel metadata, source-page references and protected full-size document images. The absence of a current match does not establish that no relevant source exists.

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No Small Craft records.

Red List (1939–40) — OCR

0 records

0 potential matching records have currently been identified.

Further indexing may identify OCR text matches, source files, page references and digitised page imagery. The absence of a current match does not establish that no relevant source exists.

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Ship Details

These details have been aggregated from multiple sources and may include contemporary records, later recollections, claims or assertions for which no corroborating evidence has been identified. Inclusion does not establish that any account or assertion is accurate. The information may be incomplete, out of date, disputed or incorrect and should be checked against the underlying source records and independent evidence before being relied upon.

No additional ship details available.

Lloyd’s Yacht Register (1939)

Source: Lloyd’s Register Foundation, Heritage & Education Centre, Lloyd’s Register of Yachts 1939, digitised via Internet Archive. Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Images have been converted, resized and watermarked for web display; machine-generated table OCR has been added.

No Lloyd’s records.

Operation Dynamo Map — Movement Logs

1 log View WAKEFUL on map →

Movements recorded for WAKEFUL during the evacuation period, as plotted on the Operation Dynamo map.

Departed	Route	Arrived	Troops	Notes	Source
28 May 1940, 18:00	Dover → English Channel	29 May 1940, 05:00	—	Attempt Assumed inbound journey inferred from a dated loss; departure time is not logged	Wikipedia: List of ships at Dunkirk — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ships_at_Dunkirk

User Contributed Collection

Documents and descriptions supplied by registered researchers. All submissions are reviewed in accordance with our Terms and Conditions.

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