Built 1924 by William Denny and Bros., Dunbarton, for the London and South Western Railway, later Southern Railway, Southampton, principally for the Southampton-St Malo route.
She was requisitioned as Hospital Ship No. 28 in 1939, and took part in the Dunkirk evacuation. At 2pm, 28 May 1940, she left Dover, arriving at Dunkirk 6.30pm. At 1am, 29 May, she avoided a torpedo attack, arriving at Newhaven via Doverat 8.30am with 271 stretcher cases and 13 personnel. At 12.30pm 30 May, she left Dover, reaching Dunkirk at 10pm, coming under intense shellfire whilst alongside, with shrapnel hitting the decks. The tide was going out, so, to avoid being grounded, she had to leave at 11.45pm, arriving at Newhaven 11am 31 May with 87 cases.
The Dinard also took part in “Operation Aerial” 16 June 1940, taking patients from Cherbourg to Southampton.
Chief Officer J.W.A Jones, Chief Engineer Norman Smith, and Mrs Amy Goodrich, stewardess, were mentioned in dispatches for services in the Dunkirk evacuation. Mrs Goodrich was the only woman included in the list of people honoured for their part in the Dunkirk withdrawal. She told the Southern Daily Echo 24 August 1940 "I can't think why on earth they should mention my name. I didn't do anything at all." Her daughter said "If I know mother at all, she simply carried on with her job as if nothing unusual was happening. She is always very cool and collected. She has not told us anything about what she went through."
After the war Dinard was rebuilt as a car ferry, and returned to service in 1946 as Dinard on the Dover-Boulogne route. Became Viking 1959-1970
see
Scottish Built Ships: Dinard
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