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Ministry of Defence

Answer

Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many (a) war ships and (b) merchant marine ships sunk as a result of hostilities in the 20{th} Century, which are also war graves, are situated within (i) the United Kingdom's territorial waters and (ii) the waters of UK overseas territories; and if a list of such vessels is published; [146060] (2) how many British (a) warships and (b) merchant marine ships sunk as a result of hostilities in the 20{th} Century, which are war graves, are situated within the territorial waters of the Irish Republic; and if a list of such vessels is published. [146059] Dr. Moonie: There is no centrally held list of British wrecked military vessels that lie in UK territorial waters, international waters or the territorial waters of other countries. There is no single source of reference which identifies all vessels lost in the service of the Admiralty or on Government Service since 1914. The returns to Parliament, following the end of both World Wars, Navy losses and Merchant Shipping losses, list some 12,000 vessels. No distinction is made between those vessels in Government Service or Mercantile vessels. Only one list identifies vessels where lives were lost. These records have not been updated in the intervening years. The UK Hydrographic Office has records of those vessels located in the vicinity of the Irish Republic during surveys between 1840 to 1935. Records of subsequent sinking are obtained from Irish maritime sources. This list is not published but is available, at a charge, from the Hydrographic Office at Taunton, Somerset.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

361 c534-5W;361 c536-7W; 146060;146059

Session

2000-01

Subjects

Merchant shipping Republic of Ireland Wrecks Warships War graves

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

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