Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department will support the search for grave sites of those lost in HMS Dasher in 1943.

HMS DASHER tragically sank in March 1943 following an explosion onboard where no enemy action was involved. Records show that 23 servicemen are buried in marked graves at the following locations, Ardrossan Cemetery (13), Greenock Cemetery (seven), Frizington Roman Catholic Cemetery (one), Mearns Cemetery (one) and at Paisley (Hawkhead) Cemetery (one).

It is Government policy that, where a wreck of a ship is the final resting place for our Service men and women, they should be allowed to lie undisturbed. As DASHER is the last known resting place for 356 Servicemen, the wreck is designated as a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986; this means the site can only be accessed under a licence granted by the Secretary of State for Defence. The lives of those lost are commemorated on war memorials around the country.