Missing from the record: historians, archival research and underwater munitions

Abstract

ABSTRACT Archival research is an important starting point for scientific studies on underwater munitions, but marine scientists have voiced concerns and criticism over the completeness, validity, and reliability of historical records. However, labelling primary sources as ‘incomplete’ demonstrates that scientists have largely misunderstood how and why archives accumulate information. This article seeks to familiarize readers with the benefits and challenges of archival research on underwater munitions. It explores the role of the archives in preserving historical sources and offers explanations as to why ‘gaps’ in information develop over time. In doing so, it elucidates how the archival grain was shaped by a variety of factors and actors over time, and shows how ‘gaps’ emerged from more than just national security, military secrecy, information laws, and archival science. The agency of past scientists, historians, bureaucrats, and private military contractors all played a role in shaping the nature of documentation about this concerning legacy of war and military pollution.