The ‘little ships’ of Dunkirk are indelibly fixed in the history of this nation during World War Two. Their fates were many and varied, but one of them, as Wight Rose, went on to spend 20 peaceful years ferrying passengers between Keyhaven and Hurst Castle.

Wight Rose moored on the Keyhaven River following her reconstruction, together with her Dunkirk Association flag.

Towards the end of May 1940, a call went out from the Ministry of Shipping for ‘all motor yachts 30ft overall and upwards’, with a shallow draft, that were based in and around London and the south-east of England.  Their mission, as part of Operation Dynamo, was to help with the evacuation of around 338,000 British and Allied soldiers who were trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk.

Of the 800 or so ships that rallied to the call, one was the Felicity – then operating as a ferry in Poole Harbour, variously to Wareham, Brownsea Island and Shell Bay.  Built as a fishing boat in 1928 by Davis Boatyard in Poole, the small wooden launch was 35ft long, with a draft of just 2ft, so fitted the requirements exactly.

The Davis brothers duly took Felicity and a sister ship to Dover, where naval crews took over for the crossing to Dunkirk. Some time later, unlike her sister ship, the Felicity made it safely back to Poole.

During the 1970s, the boat was acquired by Sean Crane, owner of the newly formed Hurst Castle Ferries, who renamed her Wight Rose. For the next 20 years she plied the peaceful waters of the Keyhaven River, mostly ferrying passengers to and from Hurst Castle.

Sean’s son, Jason – whose company Hurst Marine continues to operate the ferry service in the river – remembers ‘many adventures on her’ from about 14 years old, ranging from ferry duty to buoy-laying for the Solent circuit yacht racing.  In 1991, though, Wight Rose was badly damaged in a fire. Written off by the insurers, she would have been destroyed but for the imagination of a local farmer with a background in boatbuilding, Julian Aldridge.  Seven years later, a newly refurbished boat took to the river once more, now boasting a large cockpit to give the option of sleeping onboard.

In her latest incarnation, the little ship went on to spend several more years on the Keyhaven River before being moved, we believe, to the West Country