Show Notes
Lieutenant Sethia is accused of a second crime: the theft of HMS Conqueror’s log books. Two journalists and the Serious Crime Squad try to hunt him down. The Belgrano Diary is a new six-part series from the Documentary Team at the London Review of Books, hosted by Andrew O’Hagan. We’ve brought a selection of relevant writing from the LRB archive – including pieces by Tam Dalyell, who plays an important part in the story – in front of the paywall for the duration of the series: lrb.me/thebelgranodiary Episode 6 will be released on 2 May. If you’d prefer not to wait, you can listen to the whole series NOW, as well as exclusive interviews and other bonus material, all for a one-off payment of just £4.99 at: https://lrb.me/belgranodiarysc For more on the mystery of the missing Log Books, read Stuart Prebble’s Secrets of the Conqueror, which tells the remarkable story of the submarine’s Cold War operations before and after the Falklands War. Archive: ‘World in Action – A View from the Conqueror’/ITV/Granada Television, Parliamentary Recording Unit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from The Belgrano Diary
In the days after 9/11, George W. Bush declared a state of emergency and initiated what would become an unprecedented expansion of US power. Public debate narrowed: there were new limits on what was acceptable, and not acceptable, to say. The London Review of Books published a number of pieces that challenged this consensus, forcing its editor, Mary-Kay Wilmers, to defend the paper on national radio.
After 9/11, George W. Bush launched a global War on Terror. What followed was an unprecedented expansion of American power, from Guantánamo Bay to drone strikes, mass surveillance to the weaponisation of the financial system. Asked when it would end, Vice-President Dick Cheney replied: ‘Not in our lifetime.’ Two decades later, we’re still living in its shadow.
The Belgrano affair reaches its climax as the stories of Narendra Sethia and Clive Ponting connect. The two whistleblowers appear in court and the diary makes its final journey. The Belgrano Diary is a new six-part series from the Documentary Team at the London Review of Books, hosted by Andrew O’Hagan. We’ve brought a selection of relevant writing from the LRB archive – including pieces by Tam Dalyell, who plays an important part in the story – in front of the paywall for the duration of the series: lrb.me/thebelgranodiary You can listen to exclusive interviews and other bonus material, all for a one-off payment of just £4.99 at: https://lrb.me/belgranodiarysc Archive: ‘The Scottish Independence Podcast – Episode 172’/Michael Greenwell, ‘Live from Downing Street’/ITV/TV-Am, ‘Nott, John William Frederic (Oral History)’/Imperial War Museum, Parliamentary Recording Unit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Armed with the diary, Tam Dalyell goes on the attack – but the cover-up continues. A whistleblower from within the Ministry of Defence is arrested for a breach of the Official Secrets Act.
Lieutenant Sethia quits the navy and moves to the Caribbean. He thinks the Falklands War is behind him, but back in the UK, an eccentric, anti-war MP notices a discrepancy in the government’s account of the sinking and starts to investigate.