History

1924

In December, during US Prohibition, she docked in Portland, Oregon, carrying approved and sealed whisky. State prohibition commissioner George Cleaver disregarded the seal, seized the cargo, and prompted a British Embassy complaint. The ship’s master resisted departure without the whisky. Federal intervention led to the whisky’s return, and Cleaver issued an apology.

1927 – 1930

On Christmas Eve 1927, she was unluckily hit by another ship again and soon got repaired. She kept operating along the US eastern seaboard until faced a downturn due to the Great Depression in 1930, leading to mooring in Essex’s River Blackwater with 60 other vessels.

1935

In May 1935, the vessel “London Merchant” was acquired by Charente Steamship Company, a branch of T & J Harrison shipping line. Renamed “Politician,” she served cargo routes between Britain and South Africa, earning the crew’s nickname “Polly.” During WWII, she came under Admiralty command, participating in Atlantic convoys between the UK and US.

4 Feb, 1941

In February 1941, SS Politician departed Liverpool for Scotland to join a convoy to the US. Led by Captain Beaconsfield Worthington, the crew numbered 51. The cargo was diverse, including cotton, machetes, sweets, and bicycles, with 264,000 bottles of Scotch whisky and valuable Jamaican banknotes in the hold. The whisky, salvaged from damaged warehouses, aimed to raise funds for the war effort.

The ship’s journey took it through the Irish Sea, past Islay and the Skerryvore lighthouse, until it grounded near Eriskay on February 4, 1941, due to harsh weather and low visibility. After failing to free SS Politician from the rocks, captain Beaconsfield Worthington has had to ask for rescue. Receiving SOS messages, boats from nearby islands came to the grounding ship for help. All crew survived, with one member injured during the landing.

5 Feb – 19 Feb, 1941

Sailors have confirmed that there were huge amount cases of whisky on board. After hearing the news, the island residents quickly took boats back and forth to the sunken ship overnight, managing to “salvage” several crates of whisky.

On 6 Feb’s morning, captain Worthington came back to the grounding ship and discovered that some of the crew’s belongings were missing. He also noticed several signs of someone boarding the ship at night. And at the same time, he unveiled the curtain of legendary Whisky Galore night!

Local customs officers tried to ask captain to guard the Politician, but got refused due to the dangerous and unpredictable environment. Therefore, even the crew’s bonded stores finally become empty on 19 Feb, not only whisky in this turn.

March – April, 1941

Charles McColl, a local Customs and Excise officer, asked a constable called Donald MacKenzie for help.The two-person team conducted a search operation lasting almost a month. During this time, they seized three vessels involved in whisky smuggling and detained 18 individuals associated with the operation. As news of the search spread, people in the surrounding waters became cautious of customs officers’ checks, resulting in no arrests for a while. However, a significant increase in whisky sales was observed on Barra Island later on, leading to the arrest of four additional individuals linked to this matter.

22 September 1941

After 4 months preparation, SS Politician finally got lifted from the rocks.

25 October 1941

SS Politician was sadly found that her body has been broken in half because of a hidden rock when she was being towed.

March 1942

The stern of SS Politician was cut from the unmovable part and towed to Rothesay. At this point, all the salvage operations for the shipwrecks have come to the end.