CONFIDENTIAL
3RD DRAFT
in Chapter III, paragraphs 41 to 43.
Offshore Interests
40. The increasing scale and importance of British offshore
interests and the need to safeguard them is extending the
work of the
authorities.
Services in support of the appropriate civil
The main new development is the exploitation
of the gas and oil resources of the Continental Shelf. To meet
these additional duties it has been decided to build five new
vessels for distant patrols in our offshore waters, which will
fill the gap between the small mine countermeasures vessel at
present used for coastal fishery protection work, and the frigate;
and also to modify a number of existing RAF aircraft for offshore
surveillance work. Meanwhile, the present system of patrols by
aircraft and frigates in the area of the offshore oil installations
will be supplemented by the deployment of two additional Royal
Navy vessels later this year. One of these will be a specially
equipped tug, the Reward, and the other, the Department of
Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland's fishery protection vessel,
Jura, which will be taken on loan and manned by the Royal Navy as
a warship.
41. Other offshore tasks such as fishery protection and search
and rescue operations are dealt with in Chapter III (paragraphs
48 to 53 and 55).
Energy Conservation
42. Faced with oil shortages and steeply rising prices, the
Services further tightened their control over fuel consumption
during the winter of 1973-74.
Despite a return to nearly normal
II-17
CONFIDENTIAL