Maritime record 2236 - POLITICIAN (BOW SECTION): ERISKAY, SEA OF THE HEBRIDES

NF80NW 8000 8033 0963
N 57 4 W 7 16.5

Quality of fix = PA
Horizontal Datum = OGB

Circumstances of Loss Details
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The POLITICIAN ran ashore on rocks in fog while on passage from Liverpool to New Orleans. This loss was the inspiration of the novel "Whisky Galore" by Compton Mackenzie.

Surveying Details
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Aground at 57 04 00N, 007 16 30W, approximately. The wreck should have been broken up where she lay aground but this did happen.
Source; Lloyds.

17 November 1970. Approximately 4 tons of brass and copper [value ?1600] recovered from wreck lying in Castle Bay in April 1970.
Source; Lloyd's List 13 May 1970.

8 January 1975. Searches in the area to the SE of Ru Hithinish on Eriskay by a team of divers failed to locate any trace of this wreck. However, part of this vessel [stern section] was subsequently found in the sound of Eriskay. The bow section was not located.
Report by ASADA "exercise wreck hunter".

See 57 06 04.5N, 007 16 20W.

Hydrographic Office, 1995.