Lucky escape for owners of Tantalus, which was holed and sunk at Teddington
A motor boat which played a
part in the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940 has broken up after sinking in the River
Thames. Tantalus capsized while
coming alongside in Teddington and was swept downstream into a post at the top
of the moorings.
An
RNLI spokesman commented. “Two people managed to get on to the mooring with one
cat, and Teddington lifeboat rescued the other cat aboard. We moved the tractor
to the park and used it to pull the boat off the post – and it disintegrated –
all the owners’ belongings and boat floated off downstream.”
Tantalus, originally named Jovial, was a twin-screw 35ft motor cruiser built by
Richardson in New York in 1937, shipped to the UK, and based at Newton Ferrers.
She was requisitioned by the Royal Navy soon after the outbreak of World War II, took part
in the Dunkirk evacuation, and remained in naval service until sold in 1946.
