Motor Vessel Daphne, noted for her sleek and graceful lines, was constructed in the early 1930s. She is powered by a single purpose-built 4-cylinder RH4 'Pilot' petrol engine manufactured by Thornycroft, which continues to propel the vessel over five decades later.

Measuring only 25 feet in length with a 7-foot beam, Daphne is among the smallest boats that participated in the Dunkirk evacuation. Requisitioned by the Admiralty in 1940, she was towed across the English Channel and employed in ferrying soldiers from the beaches to destroyers and transport ships.

Following her service, Daphne was moored in a mud berth in the Swale, Kent. Subsequently, she returned to private ownership and spent the majority of her post-war years on the River Medway, where her current owner, John Mills, continues to maintain her.

In 1972, Daphne was discovered in a poor state after seven years under cover in a builder's yard near Sevenoaks, Kent. Restoration efforts included replacing her garboard strakes with original elm, rebuilding the transom and rudder, and removing accumulated paint layers measuring approximately one eighth of an inch in thickness. All original equipment was retained and overhauled, demonstrating exceptional craftsmanship; for example, the Admiralty bronze stern tube is precision-fitted to the shaft along its entire length. Even the deck fittings are plated.

The current owner has made minimal modifications in line with modern boat-building or propulsion techniques, intending to preserve Daphne as a venerable classic vessel. She remains in original condition as a tribute to the vital role played by small boats during the Dunkirk evacuation.