History

Of the three boats that left Torquay for Dunkirk in 1940, the Lady Cable was the only one that made the trip across the channel. Whilst there she shuttled 550 troops from the beaches onto the larger ships and then returned to Dover with a full load. In total she rescued a total of about 630 men.

The more distant 'ship' in the picture on the left is the Lady Cable, however she has been inserted into a real photograph to demonstrate the conditions that met her crew in Dunkirk.

Her civilian Captain was Sophy Gooding and the RN officers on board were Lieut. B.S. Fidler, R.N.V.R. and Actg. S/Lt. G.A. Cadell, R.N. (Retd.) Sophy received the DCM for gallantry during this trip.

After the Dunkirk evacuation, Lady Cable continued to be a passenger carrying pleasure craft during the holiday season, sometimes taking her passengers on fishing expeditions.

She has also been associated with some mysterious happenings. In 1926 she took thirty Scotland Yard detectives on a secret mission to nearby Slapton Sands.

On another occasion she was found sunk at her mooring in the Torquay harbour.

She was more recently donated to the Trust by Irene and John Bolus. With the guidance of Torbay's Harbour Master and the assistance of Captain Bob Curtis, and Tony Capaldi of Millennium Divers she was placed on dry land and stored by Dart Marina whilst we arranged restoration.

Now

This year she was moved to B. Cann's premises to start restoration and a new application is being made for Heritage Lottery Funding part of which will restore her to seaworthy condition. Once seaworthy she will be used for educational heritage trips.

We are also in the process of arranging a National Memorial to be dedicated to the civilian sailors, lifeboat men and Royal Navy Reserve men that lost their lives on 'Little Ships' during Operation Dynamo (the Dunkirk rescue). This national memorial will be placed near the point where the Lady Cable left for Dunkirk.

Her Build

Morgan Giles of Teignmouth designed and built the Lady Cable for Alf Pittaway in 1924. She was named after and launched by Lady Cable of Lindridge. She is 40ft. long has a 9ft. beam a draft of 3.5ft., a displacement of 5 tons and is constructed of pitched pine on oak. It took three months to build her and she cost just £1 per foot! The boat was a passenger pleasure craft for most of her life. In 1936 Lady Cable was sold to C. & N. Mott of Torquay.

She is in a sorry state now, but she could not be in better hands. B. Cann is a recognised expert in restoring ships of this design and material.

She will be restored as an open boat, the way she was when she sailed to Dunkirk. She will carry a 'Dunkirk Brass Plaque' and fly the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships Ensign (shown at the top of this page). Our Ensign is frequently saluted by the Royal Navy.