Mona's Queen: Crew of Manx boat lost at Dunkirk remembered

A smaller memorial than planned was held due to coronavirus restrictions

A service has been held to remember the crew of a Manx vessel that sank during the evacuation of Dunkirk.

Mona's Queen, one of three Isle of Man Steam Packet boats lost in the operation, went down on 29 May 1940.

Representatives of Port St Mary Commissioners laid a wreath on a memorial to the ship at 05:30 BST, the time of the sinking.

Plans for the event had to be revised "as we fight another battle" with Covid-19, an authority spokesman said.

Eight Steam Packet vessels were requisitioned for the World War Two operation, which saw 338,226 British and French troops from the beach and harbour of the French town.

Mona's Queen was one of the first vessels to make a successful round trip to Dunkirk during the operation, arriving back in Dover on 27 May with about 1,200 troops on board.

However, while returning to the French port on 29 May, it struck a mine and sank in a matter of minutes.

Thirty-two sailors were rescued, but 24 crew, 17 of whom were from the island, died.

The memorial at Kallow Point in Port St Mary features the ship's anchor, which was returned to the island in 2011.

Capt Jack Ronan has many artefacts from Mona's Queen, which sank in 1940

Capt Jack Ronan was 11 at the time of the tragedy and had three family members aboard the boat when it sank, who all survived.

His uncle Fred Crebbin had been climbing the stairs towards the bridge when it struck the underwater mine.

He said Fred was "was blown up against the top of the stairway" and knocked out.

"He was pulled out of the water and into the lifeboat," he added.

Capt Ronan worked the Steam Packet after the war and got to know many of the survivors, who continued to sail with the fleet in peacetime.

"I sympathise and empathise with those who were doing the same job as me [but got] caught up in a war," he said.