Investigation file into 1960s naval ship fire 'gone missing'

The file was discovered to be missing by one of the crew who was badly burned in the blaze

The LE Cliona was damaged when a depth charge prematurely exploded during a mortar exercise off the south coast in 1962.

An investigation file into a disastrous fire on a former Naval Service ship has apparently "gone missing" from military archives, much to the dismay of campaigners who sought recognition for some of the crew who sustained serious burns preventing her sinking.

LÉ Cliona was on an exercise off the south coast on May 29, 1962, and onboard were a number of dignitaries, an RTÉ film crew and reporters from the Cork Examiner.

The ship’s crew carried out a successful hedgehog (anti-mine/submarine) mortar exercise. But during the second firing of the depth charges one of them prematurely exploded, lifting the stern of the ship out of the water and rupturing a fuel pipe in the boiler room.

A major fire broke out onboard and at one stage they prepared to abandon ship. But the fire was eventually extinguished, and the ship was able to limp back to Haulbowline where repairs and an investigation got underway.

However, three of the crew were badly burned, including Bill Mynes, 80, who discovered the inquiry file is missing. He wanted to check it to ensure all details of what happened were in it. This included the fact that members of the crew were ordered to give their lifejackets to the dignitaries.

He said:

We were told to give our lifejackets to the VIPs and the crew didn’t hesitate. It is a very serious matter to go to sea without sufficient lifejackets.

Bill also wanted to check the archive to see if there was any mention of pieces of equipment being disabled, which could have brought the fire under control much faster.

“I did a course with the Royal Navy where if a fire breaks out in a boiler room, steam valves can be opened up to smother the flames. The valves turnkeys were removed from LÉ Cliona before the fire broke out,” Bill said.

In 2015, a group of former Naval Service personnel and their families mounted a campaign to get recognition in the form of medals for the courageous efforts of the crew in saving the ship. Three, including Bill Mynes, eventually received "scrolls of commendation".

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Mr Mynes was advised by the military archives the enquiry file was recovered from its facility by the Department of Defence in 2013. The military archives are currently unaware of its location.

Peter Mulvany of the Irish Seamen’s Relatives’ Association, which helped launch the campaign for recognition of the crew, said while the association had amassed a lot of information about the fire, some is incomplete without access to the enquiry file. This includes the entire list of crew on that fateful day. 

Anybody who served, or a relative of somebody who did, is asked to contact [e-mail].