§ Mr. Meadowcroftasked. the Secretary of State for Defence (1) in what circumstances Royal Navy signal log books are destroyed;
(2) in what circumstances signals log books from Royal Navy vessels could not be destroyed;
(3) how many signals log books of Royal Navy vessels which served in the Falklands during the hostilities in 1982 have been destroyed.
§ Mr. Stanley[pursuant to his reply, 22 November 1984, c. 335]: In accordance with standing instructions, signals logs containing copies of signals received and sent are maintained. There is no requirement to retain these logs permanently, nor will there normally be any occasion to remove them from the ships or submarines concerned. Under standing instructions, they are kept for a period of 413W three months and then destroyed. Some messages may be retained but that is a matter for the officers of the ship or submarine. It is therefore unlikely that any complete signals logs from the period of the Falklands conflict have been retained.