Built as a steam Pinnace in 1912 by Sheerness Royal Naval Dockyard

Famous Dunkirk little ship once owned by Charles Lightoller

Est 1912

About Sundowner

Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Forces from the beaches of Dunkirk in May 1940, remains one of the most critical moments of the Second World War. As the BEF was pushed to the shores of France, a call went out from the Admiralty. They needed little ships.

Amongst those so-called little ships was a boat called "Sundowner." Her commander, Charles Lightoller, had many a close call during his three decades at sea. At 38, he survived one of the worst maritime disasters in history: the sinking of the Titanic. He, his son Roger, and sea scout Gerald Ashcroft departed from Ramsgate to head toward the melee.

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Dunkirk and beyond

The history

Sundowner is a motor yacht formerly owned by Charles Lightoller, who was Second Officer aboard the RMS Titanic for her ill-fated maiden voyage in April, 1912.

She participated in the Dunkirk evacuation as one of the "little ships" as well as a number of commemorations of the event, and is now a museum ship at the Ramsgate Maritime Museum in Southern England.

Content Credit: Wikipedia

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