The evacuation employed a cruiser, 39 destroyers, smaller escorts, minesweepers, trawlers, ferries, hospital carriers, armed yachts, barges, cargo ships, and hundreds of small craft. Many of these vessels were sunk or damaged, showing that the operation depended on a large naval and merchant commitment rather than an unopposed civilian flotilla. Small boats were important for reaching beaches and transferring soldiers to deeper-draft ships. Destroyers and other large vessels then carried hundreds of men at higher speed across the Channel, while the RAF attempted to cover the operation from above. The result was a coordinated lift system under attack.
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Dunkirk's small boats worked within a much larger lift system
Dunkirk combined hundreds of ships, planned routes, navigational support, naval organisation, and attempted RAF cover; small boats formed one important part of the lift.