The Association of Dunkirk Little Ships (ADLS) are sailing as a fleet from Ramsgate to Dunkirk over the late May Bank Holiday weekend 21-26 May 2025.
There will be 74 Dunkirk Little Ships in the fleet, a large number never having been previously seen in the modern era.
The voyage marks the 85th anniversary of Operation Dynamo, the rescue of more than 338,000 British and Allied troops from the beaches of Dunkirk in late May and early June of 1940.
This will be the first time the Little Ships have made the crossing since 2015. The ADLS arranges a voyage every five years but in 2020 the event was cancelled due to the pandemic.
The 2025 crossing will be escorted by the Royal Navy and the RNLI, with a spectator fleet of modern craft present in Ramsgate and Dunkirk. Commemorative events will be held in Dunkirk.
The Little Ships are planning on sailing from Ramsgate Royal Harbour on 21 May 2025, arriving ten hours later in Dunkirk, weather and sea conditions permitting.
They will assemble in Ramsgate before the initial sailing date and will likely be berthed in the inner marina.
The Dunkirk Little Ships (DLS) made their first return to Dunkirk in 1965. The voyage was the brainchild of Mr Raymond Baxter OBE, aWWIISpitfire pilot and latera BBC broadcaster who also presented the Tomorrow’s World science programme.
Baxter was the owner of a DLS motor yacht named L’Orage and was astonished to learn of her wartime history. After that first return trip by a handful of ships, Baxter, Commander Charles Lamb and John Knight co-founded the ADLS, dedicated to the preservation of the Little Ships, in 1966.A return crossing now occurs every five years.
