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NAVY NEWS, JULY 2010


11 Small ships, big responsibility


Upwards of five dozen little ships made the pilgrimage to the French port, seven decades after their deeds were carved permanently in the annals of British history.


And once again the Royal Navy was on hand to shepherd the craft through challenging seas.


These days the challenge is presented by the sheer volume of traffic (the Strait of Dover is one of the world’s most congested narrows) rather than E-boats and the Luftwaffe.


LEADING a fl otilla of little ships through hallowed waters, HMS Raider takes part in 70th anniversary commemorations of the Dunkirk evacuation.


was toured by a good 2,000 Dunkirkers. Sailors from Raider attended church services and dinners, mingling with the dwindling number of veterans of the evacuation; the very youngest of the latter are now in their late 80s.


The weekend was blessed with fine spring weather – rather like 1940 – until it came to the return voyage.


With cadets from HMS Collingwood dispersed around the little ships, the craft formed into two flotillas off Ramsgate, then were guided across the Channel by HM Ships Monmouth and Raider – “It looked like a WW2 convoy – a spectacular sight,” said the latter’s CO Lt James Reynolds.


“My executive officer, CPO Nick Dewing, has been in the Navy 24 years. He says it’s the most impressive thing he’s seen.”


Once off the French coast, Cambridge University boat Raider collected TV presenter and historian Dan Snow and his film crew; they were producing a documentary on the little ships and 70th anniversary events for the BBC.


Prince Michael of Kent – honorary admiral of the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships – was waiting for the vessel. Raider was the prince’s ‘steed’ as she made her second crossing of the day to Dunkirk.


The filmmakers sailed with the P2000 to Dover... where


And there Raider stayed, joining up once more with the rather larger HMS Monmouth. As commemorations of the sacrifices made over ten days in 1940 reached their climax, the Black Duke fired a 17-gun salute while the ship’s Merlin, Blackbird, cast a wreath into the Channel.


Ashore, a platoon from Monmouth marched alongside sailors from other nations during commemorative parades, while the frigate herself


And that posed a little bit of a problem because there were some students from HMS Collingwood who needed to get back to Fareham for courses.... so Raider carried out her own ‘Dunkirk evacuation’ offering the cadets a lift home.


in company with the other varsity boat, HMS Tracker. The duo are heading for Gibraltar with students from Oxford and Cambridge Universities on board and should be in La Coruña right about now. Picture: LA(Phot) Dean Nixon, FRPU East


“You read about Dunkirk in the history books, and going there is one thing,” said Lt Reynolds. “But to take part in a reenactment with the little ships around us, to have the honour of leading them across the Channel, to be at the head of that flotilla, that really is quite something. “Meeting the veterans was an extremely humbling experience – and quite inspiring. Even seeing the beaches today – they are vast – and knowing how shallow the water is, you understand how difficult it was in 1940. It really was an immense effort.” From Dunkirk, HMS Monmouth made for Belfast and the city’s maritime festival (see page 6), while HMS Raider has begun her summer deployment


With ceremonies over, the flotilla was due to return in company with HMS Raider on the Monday... but the weather gods weren’t being especially kind. Raider had a schedule to keep and so had to depart for Blighty. It fell to the Maritime Volunteer Service to escort the armada of little ships home when it cleared up.


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