---

Protection of Military Remains Act 1986

Answer

Following a public consultation exercise on the operation of the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 held in 2001, Ministers decided that a small representative number of wrecks, lost when on military service as defined in the Act, would be designated as controlled sites (on which any activity without a licence is prohibited).Statutory Instrument 2002 No. 1761 designated 11 wrecks—the remains of HMS ““Bulwark””, HMS ““Dasher””, HMS ““Formidable””, HMS ““Hampshire””, HMS ““Natal””, HMS ““A7””, HMS ““Vanguard””, HMS ““Affray””, HMS ““Exmouth””, HMS ““Royal Oak”” and the submarine ““H5””—as controlled sites. The statutory instrument also designated six wrecks as protected places (where diving activity is permitted on a ““look but don’t touch”” basis)—HMS ““Hood””, HMS ““Prince of Wales””, HMS ““Repulse””, HMS ““Gloucester””, RFA ““Sir Galahad”” and the U-Boat ““U-12””.Ministers also announced that all other military vessels that met the criteria outlined in the consultation document would be designated as protected places as part of a rolling programme of assessment. Following consultation with a number of bodies, a second tranche of designations comprising 30 candidate wrecks, all considered to be on military service when lost, has been drawn up. Once the list has been finalised, ministerial approval will be sought to the designation of the vessels as protected places. Further tranches will follow.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

2087; 675 c127WA

Session

2005-06

Subjects

Protection Wrecks Warships War graves

Legislation

Protection of Military Remains Act 1986

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk