Documents released from Britain's National Archives have indicated that Commander Lionel 'Buster' Crabb, who disappeared while diving beneath a Russian warship in 1956, was not the only diver to reconnoitre the ship.

Crabb, a daring Royal Navy diver, famously went missing while attempting to survey the underside of the cruiser Ordzhonikdze, moored in Portsmouth Harbour having delivered Russian leader Nikita Khruschev to Britain for governmental talks.

Diplomatic tension was raised when Crabb did not return, after Russian crew spotted a diver in the harbour. A corpse appeared on the foreshore at nearby Chichester about a year later. The remains were dressed as a naval diver, but were otherwise unidentifiable. Despite the find, some people continued to think Crabb might have been caught and taken back to Russia.

The newly released documents shed no further light on Crabb's disappearance. But they seem to confirm that the Royal Navy deployed another diving team to examine the ship, despite officially calling off operations after Crabb's disappearance.

The 1970s papers, sent by Cabinet Secretary Sir Burke Trend to Prime Minister Edward Heath, were part of a discussion about dissuading the BBC from pursuing the affair.

"The BBC now know that, in addition to the operation by Crabb, a separate diving operation was planned by the Royal Navy against the Russian cruiser," wrote Trend. "They have also got wind of the fact this second operation, although officially called off, nevertheless took place as an unofficial enterprise."

The information was believed to come from one of the naval divers involved. "The Ministry of Defence have so far been unable to identify this officer, but there seems no reason to doubt the claim," said Trend.

Related links
How Buster Crabb died

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