The Fabulous Flotilla

The 'Fabulous Flotilla', called the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company in colonial Burma, was the largest privately-owned fleet of ships in the world. It was an entirely Scottish enterprise with nearly all its investors, management and ship's officers drawn from Scotland. Fascinating personalities emerge from Strachan's descriptions of Irrawaddy commanders and the flotilla's key players. Renamed Myanmar in 1997, Burma is Scotland's 'lost colony' and the Scottish connection is little remembered today due to Burma's half a century of post-war isolation. In its 1920s heyday Burma had the highest concentration of Scots anywhere in the world, outside of Scotland, with the exception of Canada. Scots were everywhere in Burma, running everything, and even their Burmese servants spoke in 'broad' Scots. The Fabulous Flotilla provides a revealing record of this remarkable era in Burma's history and past Scottish endeavour - a jewel of a story that may soon be lost.