As East West tensions Rise Will Deadly Undersea Menace Return

This published by the Celtic League:

As East West tensions Rise Will Deadly Undersea Menace Return

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

AS EAST WEST TENSIONS RISE WILL DEADLY UNDERSEA MENACE RETURN

It is reported that Russian military incursions into the waters around the NATO countries are on the increase and if there is one thing that the lesson of history tells us it is that for every visible military presence there is a hidden undersea menace.

Throughout the decades from 1970 – 1990 the Cold War ranged and no where was this more evident than in the range of submarine traffic around the waters of the United Kingdom.

The deadly duel between the undersea forces of NATO and the Warsaw Pact inevitability led to casualties however these were not felt by the military but by the fishing communities of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Brittany.

The Celtic League monitored this activity extensively and built up a dossier of what now probably seems like a conservative estimate of between 150 – 170 incidents.

The military admitted little and generally trying to extract information was like trying to ‘draw hen’s teeth’.

However, occasionally sympathetic politicians did press for answers and none was more vociferous in pursuing the issue than George Foulkes (now Lord Foulkes).

George Foulkes became a bit of a bête-noire to Scottish nationalist during the recent referendum but in the decade from 1980 – 1990 he was a good friend to the Celtic League pressing the United Kingdom government on a range of military issues including the menace posed by submarines to fishermen.

As indicated above accurate statistics were hard to come by but Foulkes was able to ascertain that in the case of several suspicious sinking’s around Scotland and in the Irish Sea no proper maritime accident enquiries were held.

In November 1991 it was admitted following pressure from him in parliament that in relation to fishing vessels (a) Girl Fiona, (b) Inspire, (c) Alert II, (d) Boy Shaun, (e) Sylvia Marita, (f) Jake II, (g) Tarradale II, (h) Pearl, (i) Mhari L and (j) South Stack
no Marine Accident Investigation Branch inquiries had been held.

A spokesman for the UK government simply said:

“All the accidents occurred before July 1989, when the marine accident investigation branch was set up. Under the pre-existing system losses were investigated by the Department’s surveyors, but there was no provision for making reports available for general release, unless the accident was subject to public inquiry. The loss of Boy Shaun, being an Irish vessel, will have been investigated by the Irish authorities. None of the incidents listed by the hon. Member led to such an inquiry.”
Almost thirty men were lost in these tragedies which did not warrant a full enquiry and they are part of a greater number lost from Biscay to the Pentland Firth over three decades.
Foulkes was also able to get a handle on the extent of the problem when he pressed the government on the number of confirmed MFV and submarine incidents in a three year window from 1989 – 1991 (at a time the Cold War was winding down).
The government confirmed that incidents had occurred as follows:

Vessel Date of Incident

New Dawn 3 January 1989

Lau Ann 22 January 1989

Spes Bona (and Arturus and Strathayre) 27 February 1989

Seagull 31 March 1989

Northern Lights 31 March 1989

Laurel 17 April 1989

Huntress 28 June 1989

Scotia 13 November 1989

Sarah Marie 7 December 1989

Moray Adventurer 4 October 1990

Antares 22 November 1990

Green Eagle 14 December 1990

Delvan 13 February 1991

Maritan 19 February 1991

Hercules II February 1991

Wavecrest, Alpha and Athena 6 March 1991

Swyn-Y-Mor 20 March 1991

Saffron 12 November 1991

All were UK vessels except the Laurel—Isle of Man—and the Sarah Mardie—Jersey.

The Antares incident incidentally was the final straw (all crew members lost when she was sunk in collision with a British nuclear submarine) following this new regulations were introduced.

From 1991 onwards as both the US and Soviet submarine fleets disengaged the level of incidents fell dramatically, although suspicious sinking’s have still occurred, such as the Breton MFV Bugaled Breizh in January 2004.
With East West military tension now increasing are we in for a deadly rerun of the undersea war games that undoubtedly cost so many lives?

J B Moffatt (Mr)
Director of Information

01/12/14

(Please note that replies to correspondence received by the League and posted on CL News are usually scanned hard copies. Obviously every effort is made to ensure the scanning process is accurate but sometimes errors do occur.)
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