SEVENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF SINKING OF HMS ROYAL OAK

Early day motion 1076, tabled 12 March 2009 by Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat). Signed by 52 members.

That this House notes that October 2009 will be the 70th anniversary of the loss of HMS Royal Oak when the German U-boat, U-47, penetrated the defences protecting Scapa Flow and torpedoed the battleship, sinking HMS Royal Oak with the loss of 833 lives; further notes that many boy sailors aged between 15 and 17 were drowned that night and that, as a result, Churchill ordered that boy sailors were no longer to serve on ships on active service; further notes that HMS Royal Oak still lies in the Scapa Flow with the wreck designated a war grave; further notes the memorial to HMS Royal Oak in nearby St Magnus' Cathedral, Kirkwall, which features a plaque dedicated to those 833 men who lost their lives; further notes that the sinking is remembered every year at a service held over the site of the wreck when Royal Navy divers replace the white ensign that still flies on the submerged wreck; and remembers the sacrifice of those who lost their lives that night in the defence of Britain.

Signatures by party: Labour 23, Liberal Democrat 19, Conservative 5, DUP 2, Scottish National Party 2, Independent 1.