s (left) and ''Mona's Isle'' (right), laid up one winter at the Tongue,
Douglas In the First World War the
Admiralty had bought or chartered eleven IoMSP ships. After the war only four returned, so the company urgently needed replacement ships to resume peacetime services. In order to meet tourist demand in 1919 the company bought the Laird Line ship
Hazel and renamed her . Next the IoMSP bought
Onwards wreck and had her refitted. She was transferred to the IoMSP at Union Dock,
Limehouse Basin, in the
Port of London, and became the only IoMSP ship to carry the
Manx flag down the
River Thames. She began IoMSP service as
Onward, and was renamed ''Mona's Isle
on 27 August 1920. In 1920 the IoMSP also bought her sister ship Victoria''. ''Mona's Isle'' served various IoMSP routes, but mainly worked summer services linking Douglas with Belfast and Dublin. On Monday, 29 June 1936, she struck the
Devil's Rock in Balscadden Bay, but reached Dublin safely. She was taking on water and had to be repaired before her return trip to Douglas.
Second World War After the Second World War began, the Admiralty requisitioned several IoMSP ships and had them converted into
ocean boarding vessels (OBVs). ''Mona's Isle
was requisitioned on 24 September 1939. Toward the end of May 1940, Mona' Isle
was one of eight IoMSP ships that were sent to Dunkirk to help to evacuate the British Expeditionary Force in Operation Dynamo. According to Admiralty records, Mona's Isle'' was the first ship to leave Dover for Dunkirk when the
Dunkirk evacuation began, apart from the destroyer , which acted as a radio link ship. ''Mona's Isle'' left Dover at 21:00 hrs on 27 May 1940. The shortest was "Route Z", , which went west from Dunkirk along the French coast as far as No.6 Buoy, then turned west-northwest straight to Dover. The longest was "Route Y", , went east along the French and Belgian coast as far as Bray-Dunes then turned north-northeast until reaching the Kwinte Buoy. From there ships went west-northwest, then west to the North Goodwin Lightship, then south round the
Goodwin Sands to Dover. "Route Y" was . It was the safest from German shore batteries, but passed through a heavily
mined part of the
English Channel. "Route X" went north from Dunkirk, through the Ruytingen Pass to the North Goodwin Lightship and then south around the Goodwin Sands to Dover. The combination of the minefields and sandbanks meant Route X could be used in daylight hours only. ''Mona's Isle'' returned by Route Z and came under fire from German shore batteries on the French coast. Many shells exploded near her, spraying water over her decks. Some shells hit her but failed to explode. One fell aft and smashed her rudder. By differential use of port and starboard engines, the ship could still be steered. A
Messerschmitt Bf 109 strafed her twice, killing 23 men and wounding 60. She reached Dover escorted by the destroyer . The mission had taken nearly 15 hours. For their parts in the action her commanding officer,
Cdr John Dowding RNR was awarded the
Distinguished Service Order and
Petty Officer LB Kearley-Pope, RNR was awarded the
Distinguished Service Medal. He had remained at a
12-pounder gun despite multiple wounds, and took a great risk in coming out of cover to close the
cordite boxes. There were casualties among the gun's crew, but Kearley-Pope continued his duties until the ship berthed six hours later. Cdr Dowding was later promoted to
captain. In 1942 he was
commodore of
Convoy PQ 17 to Russia, which was forced to scatter and suffered heavy losses. ''Mona's Isle'' made a second round trip to Dunkirk, evacuating another 1,200 troops, and bringing her total to 2,634. ''Mona's Isle'' spent the rest of the war as an OBV and then an
accommodation ship. She was transferred to the
River Tyne in 1941, where she contributed to the
anti-aircraft defence of coastal convoys. Twice she assisted
cargo ships that had been bombed, in one case rescuing 32 survivors. But three times she was involved in collisions, one of which did extensive damage for which she spent three months being repaired in
dry dock. After the
Normandy landings she provided cross-Channel transport until June 1945, when the
Ministry of War Transport chartered her. She was returned to her owners in March 1946.
Post-war After the Second World War, ''Mona's Isle'' returned to IoMSP service. She was withdrawn when the
"Six Sisters" entered service in 1948. She arrived at
Milford Haven in Wales on 12 October 1948 to be scrapped. ==References==