“Anything to help tell the story of this brave little ship from Great Yarmouth” - Dunkirk ship appeal 

17th August 2018
Anthony Carroll reports
 


The MV Coronia at Hartlepool Picture: Richard Banks
 

She was one of the little ships of Dunkirk who helped to rescue tens of thousands of stranded Allied soldiers as German forces advanced on the 1940’s beachhead
 


The Brit operating out of Great Yarmouth Picture: Richard Banks
 

 
The former Great Yarmouth pleasure HM Tender Watchful was based in the town when she was called up to take part Operation Dynamo in May 1940
 
As well as ferrying troops to larger vessels, HM Tender Watchful brought home 900 troops in three dangerous crossings back to England
 
And now the historic ship is being restored so she can return to Dunkirk in May 2020 to mark the 80th anniversary of the evacuation
 
However its owners are appealing for information to help restore at her home in Hartlepool as there are no photographs or images of what she looked like during her war service
 


British troops line up on the beach at Dunkirk to await evacuation. Picture: IWM/PUBLIC DOMAIN
 

 
Her owners Graham Beasley and Pauline Field and volunteers linked to the boat also believe she was crewed by Great Yarmouth sailors, except for her commanding officer
 
However the name of the commanding officer is not known and her owners would also like to commemorate the names of all of her crew who served on her - leading to an appeal for information from anyone in Great Yarmouth who may have knowledge of them to get in touch
 
After Dunkirk HM Tender Watchful spent the rest of the war carrying out coastal patrols, replenishment missions and also helped to rescue downed air crew
 
Before the war she was called Brit and was built in Great Yarmouth in 1936 and she took tourists to see the seals at Scroby Sands
 
After the war she was based out of Scarborough as the Yorkshire Lady as a pleasure cruiser and in the late 1960s she was named Coronia
 
After being sold in 1985 she was based out of Gibraltar until 1991 when she returned to Scarborough, where she was retired in 2010
 
She is now known as Coronia
 
Volunteer Richard Banks said “We really need names of those who served on her and personal stories, artefacts and photos, anything to help tell the story of this brave little ship from Great Yarmouth”
 
Anyone with information on her war time service can email HMTwatchful@btinternet.com
 
this article is reproduced from the Yarmouth Mercury website with permission