This year marks the 65th anniversary of the loss of the British cargo liner Seistan operated by the well known Strick Line, the ships of which were absorbed into the P&O fleet during the 1970s. Strick had been founded by London shipbroker Frank Clarke Strick, who merged several of his earlier undertakings, including the Anglo-Algerian Steam Ship Co and the Anglo-Arabian and Persian Steamship Co together to form Strick Line Ltd in 1913, primarily to trade between Great Britain and the Persian Gulf via the Mediterranean. After the Great War, and at 70 years of age, Strick sold his ships and business to Gray Dawes & Co which, in turn, sold it on to the P&O-controlled Hain Steamship Co in 1923, although Strick returned to purchase a 49 per cent share in the firm in 1928. During World War II Strick Line built eight new ships, but 20 others were lost.
These were replaced in a post-war building programme that saw seven conventional vessels, , , , , , and added to the fleet, while the smaller was acquired from Short Brothers after, , , , and , the latter to feature in Strick’s worst peacetime loss.
