Hundreds die as rescue ships are sunk

29th May 1940: Dive bombers, bombers, E-boats, U-boats and Magnetic mines cause heavy losses on ships picking up men from the beaches of Dunkirk

The Isle of Man Ferry ‘Mona’s Queen’ had already picked up 1,200 troops on the 27th/28th. She was returning to Dunkirk when she hit a mine off the French coast at 5.30 am on the 29th May. She sank in two minutes.

The ‘Mona’s Queen’ in the 1930s. She was the third ship of the name to serve the Isle of Man route. On the 29th May, she was carrying an ample supply of water in containers, desperately needed by the men on the beaches. Twenty-four men died when she sank, including all fourteen in the engine room.

The evacuation was now getting under way from Dunkirk. Troops had to endure long waits on the beaches or onto the Mole within Dunkirk harbour before being embarked. Yet the hazards of being bombed or machined gunned continued even after they found their way onto a ship. Three destroyers loaded with troops were sunk in or off Dunkirk on the 29th May, as well as many other ships.

British troops boarding the destroyer HMS VANQUISHER at low tide from the Mole at Dunkirk, using scaling ladders.

HMS Grenade had only just completed repairs to damage sustained in the Norway campaign. She was caught by Stuka dive bombers in Dunkirk harbour and hit by two bombs; eighteen men died. On fire, she was towed out of the harbour and later blew up

SS Fenella comes under air attack, whilst berthed alongside the East Mole at Dunkirk, 29 May 1940. She had 650 men on board when she was hit by three bombs.

The paddle steamer Waverley had been famous for her pleasure cruises from the Clyde to the Scottish islands. Her replacement, launched in 1946, is the last seagoing passenger-carrying paddle steamer in the world.

The paddle steamer Waverley had taken on board around 600 men directly from the beach. As she began to cross the Channel, she was targeted by 12 Heinkel bombers, as Captain John E Cameron DSC, later recalled¹:

They [soldiers] had come through hell getting to the evacuation point and there they were aboard the Clyde steamer Waverley and talking about journeys to Rothesay.

The planes were too many for us and eventually we were struck by two bombs.

So I gave orders to abandon ship. I was still on the bridge now as the ship was sinking and I stayed there, not because I wanted to be a hero, but I was dead scared and didn’t want to go in the water.

Around 400 men died during the attack on the Waverley.

The casualties continued throughout the day. Late at night, a series of terrible incidents occurred involving HMS Wakeful, HMS Grafton, and HMS Comfort.