§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has consulted either of the logs of HMS 226W Conqueror when answering parliamentary questions relating to the movements of HMS Conqueror during the Falklands war.
§ Mr. HeseltineI understand that the account of the captain of HMS Conqueror and his formal report of proceedings have been consulted during the preparation of answers to parliamentary questions relating to the movements of HMS Conqueror during the Falklands campaign. Given the information contained in the capatain's narrative account and his formal report of proceedings, it had not been necessary to consult the control room log for this purpose. It was for this reason that its disappearance did not come to light until the hon. Member asked about the "log of Conqueror's movements" for 2 to 4 May 1982, which prompted officials to ask to see the control room log in addition to the documents already available to them.
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Defence when he became aware that the navigational log of HMS Conqueror was missing.
§ Mr. HeseltineAs I explained yesterday in answer to questions from the hon. Members for Great Grimsby (Mr. Mitchell) and for Dagenham (Mr. Gould), the first indications that the control room log could be missing appeared in the first week of October, when an official in my Department asked to see it in the context of dealing with inquiries from the hon. Member. Initial attempts to locate the log in the archives, at the naval headquarters at Northwood, and on board the submarine, proved unsuccessful, although an increasingly intensive search was mounted in the first half of October. I was not personally involved at this stage, although my office was aware that a search was under way. On 17 October the apparent disappearance of the log was formally reported to the offices of Ministers and senior MOD management concerned.
The log is a classified document. As the Prime Minister pointed out to the hon. Member in her letter to him of 8 October and repeated in her written answer to him of 22 October, at columns 788–791, there could be no question of placing a classified document of this kind, or extracts from it, in the House of Commons Library or publishing it in any way. But, given the importance of tracing a missing classified document, a full search was mounted and a formal board of inquiry established on 25 October. I was myself informed of where matters stood shortly after my return from the middle east at the beginning of November.
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Defence if the missing log of HMS Conqueror contains details of HMS Conqueror's movements and position from 2 to 4 May 1982.
§ Mr. HeseltineI would expect that to be the case.
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether the navigational log of HMS Conqueror has been seen by any officials of his Department since the end of the Falklands conflict.
§ Mr. HeseltineThat is a matter for the board of inquiry.
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether the navigational log of HMS Conqueror has been seen by Ministers since the end of the Falklands conflict.
227W
§ Mr. HeseltineNo.
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether the commander's log of HMS Conqueror has been in the Ministry of Defence since the end of the Falklands conflict.
§ Mr. HeseltineThe account of the captain of HMS Conqueror has been in the possession of the flag officer submarines since the beginning of July 1982.
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish in full the report of the board of inquiry into the loss of the navigational log of HMS Conqueror.
§ Mr. HeseltineIt is not our practice to publish reports of boards of inquiry. I will consider whether to make a statement once the report of the board of inquiry is available.
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Defence what security classification was attached to the missing log of HMS Conqueror.
§ Mr. HeseltineI refer the hon. Member to my answer of 12 November to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby (Mr. Mitchell).
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether any photographic reproduction or other copy of the missing log of HMS Conqueror is available to him.
§ Mr. HeseltineNo.