10 Huge Historical Inaccuracies In Chris Nolan's Dunkirk
1. The Little Ships Weren't What Made The Difference
The 'Dunkirk Spirit' is exemplified by the flotilla of small ships that answered the Royal Navy's call to rescue the plucky Brits stranded in France. Dunkirk makes the appearance of this colourful flotilla the dramatic climax of the movie, with characters breaking into rare smiles as they realise their deliverance has come.
Except the small ships didn't make the 'miracle of Dunkirk' possible. The real breakthrough was the realisation that the East Mole, a mile-long structure that functioned as breakwater and wasn't designed as a dock, might just about handle a destroyer being moored to it.
This decision is made before the film begins and while the mole gets plenty of screen time, the destroyers and other ships docking there are described as being not nearly enough for evacuation.
In fact the larger ships picking up troops at the mole evacuated the huge majority of troops at Dunkirk, with the undeniably brave crews of the small ships accounting for about 5%.