Whilst Naiad Errant is most well-known for her contribution to the Dunkirk evacuation, she was also used in two further wartime roles, as shown by this extract of a letter from the Admiralty.
The well-known photograph below shows her and Shledar, another Armed Patrol Vessel, in August 1940.
All the craft serving with the Navy were painted grey all over - even the portholes! However Naiad Errant's raised lettering made it easy for someone to pick out her name in white paint. The number 7 was her number in the Felixstowe patrol flotilla.
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When Naiad Errant had been requisitioned for Operation Dynamo there had been no time for any official
paperwork. Eventually a charter with the Ministry of Shipping was drawn up in December of 1940. Later, in
November of 1941, she was bought outright by the Ministry of War Transport.
Naiad Errant was used on patrol for more than two and a half years. This photograph at Ipswich (right) shows her sister-ship near the end of this time. Both she and Naiad Errant had wooden doors added to the wheelhouse sides at this time. |
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By February 1943 Naiad Errant was in need of some repairs, and so for four months was laid up under 'Care and Maintenance' at G. Wilson's yard at Sunbury, back on the Thames. The two photographs below show her moored at Wilson's with a new mast and a fresh paint scheme. Her name is obliterated by the double wooden support necessary to hold in place a large protective hemp rope around the top of the hull.
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Once the 'Care and Maintenance' of Naiad Errant had been completed, she was then used by the War Office for Water Transport duties until after the end of the war.