What is a Dunkirk Little Ship? History, numbers and recognition

When we show the Davia to visitors, the first question is almost always the same: « What, exactly, is a Dunkirk Little Ship? » Here is the fullest answer I can give, with the verifiable figures and names.

Operation Dynamo, May to June 1940

On 27 May 1940, the British army and part of the French army were encircled on the beaches of Dunkirk. Admiral Bertram Ramsay, based in the cliffs of Dover, launched Operation Dynamo: a mass evacuation to England.

The Royal Navy's warships were too large to reach the beaches. The soldiers had to be ferried out to deeper water by small, fast craft. The Admiralty requisitioned 700 civilian boats: pleasure yachts, fishing trawlers, pilot boats, lifeboats, Thames paddle steamers, river launches.

For 9 days, from 27 May to 4 June, these boats shuttled between Ramsgate (Kent) and the French beaches. Some, like the Davia, went straight in to pick the men out of the water or off the moles of Dunkirk. Others ran a relay between the beaches and the larger ships anchored further offshore.

The result: 338,226 Allied soldiers evacuated. 198,229 British and 139,997 French. This is what Winston Churchill would call, as early as 4 June 1940, the « Miracle of Dunkirk ».

« Little Ships »

The term Little Ships appeared as early as 1940 in the British press to distinguish these private boats from the warships. It became official in 1966 with the founding of The Association of Dunkirk Little Ships (ADLS), to mark the 25th anniversary of Operation Dynamo.

The ADLS, whose patron is HRH Prince Michael of Kent, certifies the authentic boats that took part in Dynamo. Certified boats are entitled to fly the Cross of Saint George ensign bearing the arms of the town of Dunkirk, together with a Dunkirk 1940 plaque. Around 100 boats are certified by the ADLS today.

How many are left?

In 2026, fewer than 50 Dunkirk Little Ships are still in seaworthy condition. Some sank during the operation (the Mona's Queen, one of the largest, struck a mine on 29 May 1940). Others were lost after the war, abandoned, broken up, replaced in civilian use by more modern boats.

The survivors are mainly in the United Kingdom, moored on the Thames or in the marinas of southern England. A few are in Scotland, where many of these yachts were built by the James Silver, William Osborne or Camper & Nicholsons yards.

The Davia in France

The Davia has the distinction of being the only Dunkirk Little Ship over 50 ft (15 m) still in France. Other, smaller Little Ships were brought to France in the 1970s and 1980s by American or French enthusiasts. The Davia arrived in 1974, brought over from London by John Shelby, an administrator of the International Herald Tribune in Paris, for river tourism on the Burgundy canals.

National Historic Ships UK entered her in 2019 on its register under number 3670. Patrimoine Maritime et Fluvial (France), chaired by Gérard d'Aboville, granted her the Vessel of Heritage Interest label the same year. In 2016, the ADLS made her one of its full members.

Three official recognitions, three countries, three eras. A single boat.

Why it still matters

Dynamo was not a military victory. The Allies were in retreat. Belgium had just capitulated. France would follow within three weeks. But without this evacuation, England would have had no army to resist in the summer of 1940 and beyond. The 338,226 men rescued went on to rebuild the divisions that would land in Africa, in Italy, then in Normandy four years later.

The Little Ships are not a symbol of power. They are a symbol of improvisation and civilian courage in the face of catastrophe. That is what my grandfather, who lived through it, passed on to me, and it is why I am restoring the Davia.