Three Motor Landing Craft initially went to Narvik and two more followed, joining Landing Craft Mechanised and Landing Craft Assault in the small force that put troops ashore. One MLC sank when a French Hotchkiss tank drove from a jetty into its cargo well, taking both craft and tank to the bottom. The reported losses comprise all five MLCs used at Narvik before the withdrawal, followed by MLC 12 and MLC 17 during the Dunkirk evacuation. The stated total of one survivor after Operation Dynamo does not reconcile with those figures: five Narvik losses and two Dunkirk losses from a prewar force of nine would leave two. The scale of the losses is clearer than the exact surviving total.
Chapter · 20:46-24:27
Motor Landing Craft losses at Narvik and Dunkirk
The tiny prewar MLC force carried troops in Norway and at Dunkirk and suffered severe losses. Only one of nine craft is said to have remained after Operation Dynamo, although the stated loss totals do not fully reconcile with that figure.