Archive

1985 Jul 2 - 1986 Sep 29
Prime Ministerial Private Office files

PREM19/1872
Nationalised Industries (Shipbuilding: Hill-Norton Committee Report on Hull Forms for Warships ('short fat ships')) (Part 1)

Document type: File list item
Source: TNA, PREM19 series
Release date: 2016 Jul 21
Classification: Confidential
Page count: 373
Any docs withheld? 1

PREM19/1872 - download whole file (PDF, 294.78 MB)

Selections from this file

Showing items 1 - 20 of 22

Per page:
Date Value Title
85 Jul 2 Tue Nationalised Industries: No.10 Policy Unit minute to Director General of Future Material Projects (Naval) ("Short Fat Ships") [the short, fat design] [declassified Jul 2016]
85 Sep 17 Tue Nationalised Industries: No.10 Policy Unit minute: Monckton to Owen ("Short Fat Ships") [dispute over design] [declassified Jul 2016]
85 Nov 6 Wed Nationalised Industries: No.10 record of conversation ("Record of a discussion on ship design, held at Ship Department, Bath on Wednesday, 6 November 1985") [Christopher Monckton, Nicholas Owen, Rear Admiral Hugh Thompson, Brian Wall, Simon Webb, John Cox] [declassified Jul 2016]
85 Nov 27 Wed Nationalised Industries: No.10 Policy Unit minute: Monckton to Griffiths ("Times Diary: item on the Osprey case") [declassified Jul 2016]
85 Dec 6 Fri Nationalised Industries: No.10 Policy Unit minute: Monckton to Owen ("Short, fat ships: warning") [declassified Jul 2016]
85 Dec 16 Mon Nationalised Industries: No.10 minute to MT ("Broad-beamed warship design: court case involving the Navy") [No.10 Policy Unit dossier of papers; MT interest] [declassified Jul 2016]
85 Dec 17 Tue Nationalised Industries: No.10 letter to Department of Defence ("Broad-beamed warship design") [MT wants Heseltine to give the matter his personal attention] [declassified Jul 2016]
86 Mar 27 Thu Nationalised Industries: Younger PS letter to No.10 ("Admiral Hill-Norton's Report on Warship Design") [declassified Jul 2016]
86 Apr 14 Mon Nationalised Industries: Younger PS letter to No.10 ("Admiral Hill-Norton's Report on Warship Design") [declassified Jul 2016]
86 Apr 28 Mon Nationalised Industries: Lord Hill-Norton letter to MT ("Hull Forms for Warships") ["We have no doubt that the rejection of the merits of the short fat ship by the DSAC, and hence their conclusion, was unsound... We strongly recommend that our work should be examined, as a matter of urgency, by an independent committee..."] [declassified Jul 2016]
86 May 7 Wed Nationalised Industries: No.10 Policy Unit minute: Monckton to Griffiths ("Hull Forms for Warships: Lord Hill-Norton's Report") [declassified Jul 2016]
86 May 8 Thu Nationalised Industries: Younger PS letter to No.10 (Hull Forms for Warships) ["... Lord Hill-Norton's report... which is very prejudiced, contains nothing new... the suggestions of impropriety... are properly a matter for the courts... principal recommendation... that an... inquiry should be established... We have nothing to hide..."] [declassified Jul 2016]
86 May 12 Mon Nationalised Industries: MT letter to Lord Hill-Norton (Hull Forms for Warships) ["Your report deals with several technical matters on which Ministers obviously cannot express an opinion without professional advice. We are prepared therefore to commission an inquiry"] [declassified Jul 2016]
86 May 14 Wed Nationalised Industries: No.10 record of conversation ("Hull Forms for Warships") [Lord Hill-Norton, Nigel Wicks] [declassified Jul 2016]
86 May 30 Fri Nationalised Industries: Charles Hoste letter to Professor Griffiths (Hill-Norton committee) [clarification of how the committee on naval ship design was formed] [declassified Jul 2016]
86 Jun 5 Thu Nationalised Industries: Lord Hill-Norton letter to Younger ("Hull Forms for Warships") [concerns about the terms of reference of the Inquiry] [declassified Jul 2016]
86 Jun 26 Thu Nationalised Industries: Christopher Monckton letter to MT ("Inquiry into Naval ship design") [claims that Professor Caldwell unsuitable to head the Inquiry, due to conflicts of interest (denied by MoD); "... the media may now begin publicly to reflect the feeling that the... [MoD] has something to hide"] [declassified Jul 2016]
86 Jul 3 Thu Nationalised Industries: No.10 letter to Deputy Treasury Solicitor (letter from Frere Cholmeley solicitors to Christopher Monckton, No.1o Policy Unit) ["It is regrettable, to say the least, that Christopher Monckton has had contacts with one of the parties to this dispute; moreover, the sending of the legal documents to his work address... suggest that he involved himself in these matters in his work capacity"] [declassified Jul 2016]
86 Jul 10 Thu Nationalised Industries: Younger PS letter to No.10 ("The Caldwell Inquiry") ["... inquiry into warship hull design... Professor Caldwell has concluded that he should resign... a very disappointing development"] [declassified Jul 2016]
86 Jul 16 Wed Nationalised Industries: Treasury Solicitor letter to No.10 ("Osprey Limited and Anor v British Shipbuilders and Others") ["... the risk that one of the parties will try to involve Monckton or a current member of the Policy Unit is reduced if... there is no factual evidence which is not to be found elsewhere in the Plaintiffs' possession"] [declassified Jul 2016]