§ Lord Molloyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will make a statement concerning the accident at Holy Loch on 2nd November involving the USS "Holland" and the transference of a nuclear weapon which it is claimed was armed and could have exploded, as reported in a BBC programme on 19th November.
§ Viscount TrenchardOn 2nd November this year there was a minor incident at the Holy Loch submarine base in which an American missile being handled by a crane within its storage facility aboard the submarine tender USS "Holland" began to descend at a faster than normal rate due to a mechanical malfunction in the crane. Standard procedures were successfully carried out and the missile's descent was halted. At no time did the missile "free fall". No one was injured, nor was anyone in danger. There was never my possibility of explosion.