Politician
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London
Merchant was laid down at Furness Shipbuilding Company Ltd
in September 1920, and was launched in November 1921. She
entered service as a general freighter between England and
America for the
company Furness Wilthy two years later. In 1935
she was sold to Charente Steamship Company and renamed
Politician. After the outbreak of second world war, she
was requisitioned by the British Admiralty. Under a
journey from Liverpool to New Orleans with trade goods and
vehicles, she sailed north towards Scotland to join a
convoy. She hit ground 5.February 1941 outside the island
of Eriskay, and it soon became known to the local
population that she carried twenty thousand cases of
Scotch whisky. The following six months most of the cargo
and vehicles on board was salvaged. This was also the case
of the whisky in hold # 5, which was "rescued" by the
locals. 32 men were later sentenced for theft from the
wreck. In the 1980's several expeditions were launch to
recover the rest of the bottles. The stern and other
remains of the Politician, rest today northeast of the
island of Calvay on a depth of approximately 5 to 20
meter.
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| 57 06 07 N, 007 16 28 W ( Source: Canmore )  Picture: Politician Courtesy of Wikipedia Last updated: March 2020 |
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