As the allied rescue ships approached Dunkirk they were easy targets for the German Stuka bombers. The narrow sea approach with its deadly minefields left little room for evasive action and the harbour was under constant bombardment. It was left to the smallest ships to pick up soldiers from the shallow beaches and transport them to the destroyers and transport ships waiting offshore. Of the 850 vessels which took part in Operation Dynamo, 235 were sunk.

	"Never was there a more fantastic armada" Ronald Cross, Minister of Shipping
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