ABSTRACT
Transport Fleet C sailed for the other side of the Dungeness peninsula, on the western flank of the marshes, where the River Rother enters Rye Bay, east of Cliff End and Hastings. The greater part of the fleet loaded in
Antwerp where 50 transport ships and 370 barges were gathered, Calais was
the starting point for 250 barges and 200 motor boats and 40 barges and 40
motor boats put out from Gravelines. The Antwerp convoy faced the
greatest problems in putting to sea as the port is located on the River
Schelde, some distance from the open sea. The navigable part of the river is
narrow with sandbanks and turns as well as being tidal. Just getting out of
the docks and onto the river proper took half an hour for transport vessels
and four times that even in ideal conditions for a batch of eight barges.
