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LÉ
Cliona - Boiler Room Fire - 29 May 1962 - Review |
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LAST UPDATE: MONDAY: 13 FEBRUARY 2023 |
After many years trying to get access to the LÉ
Cliona Enquiry file
Shipmate Bill Mynes finally achieved his
objective, and on Tuesday 26 July 2022 was
granted access by the military archives to view
selected declassified transcripts regarding the
investigation held by the Department of Defence into
the boiler room fire, which occurred on board
LÉ
Cliona on the 29 May 1962.
(NOTE: Several
confidential submissions to the LÉ Cliona enquiry
remain classified). In this regard, our
website has been updated. Shipmate Mynes
also indicated that he had always felt guilty
as he thought he may have done something wrong, and
this had troubled him since the fire on Cliona in
1962. On the contrary, Bill Mynes never did anything
wrong or failed in his duty.
The conclusion of the review begun in 2015 which led to 4 scrolls
of commendation to be awarded and the subsequent
unveiling of the
LÉ Cliona plinth on the Naval base
in September 2016 which honours all the Cliona crew
for their efforts, is probably the best that could
be achieved. It is also likely the outcome to the
review begun in 2015 by Minister for Defence Simon
Coveney T.D. was determined by the recommendations of the 1962 Naval Court of Enquiry.
Indeed there is such a conflict in the sworn
evidence proffered by some witnesses, that it is
unsurprising the Minister took the limited action he
did. However, it would have been more
prudent for the Department of Defence to issue
Commendations to all the crew of LÉ Cliona who
deserved to be issued with scrolls of commendation
for their efforts in returning their ship safely to
port, rather
than just the four members of crew selected. Following access to declassified transcripts
regarding the Naval Court of Enquiry (1962-1964)
convened to investigate the LÉ Cliona Boiler Room
fire, this page has been updated:
Peter Mulvany BCL
HDip Arts Admin
https://www.irishseamensrelativesassociation.ie
https://www.irishseamensrelativesassociation.com
EXTRACT
COURT OF
ENQUIRY
convened by Capt. T. McKenna, Commanding Officer
Naval Service on the 30th May 1962 to investigate
and report upon the fire which occurred in the
Boiler Room of LÉ “Cliona” at sea during
Anti-Submarine Exercises on Tuesday 29th May 1962:
In his sworn evidence
CPO Egan states:
"I climbed over the divisional bulkhead down onto
the platform of No 1 Boiler Room ladder and from
there onto the plates (No 1 Boiler Room deck)": "
I put out all furnace sprayers which were still
lighting - shut down the fan engine and fuel pump"
Comment:
Lt O'Mahony leading
the Damage Control Party, gave
evidence
that "About this time No 1 boiler room cleared of
smoke but it was not possible to enter due to the
heat". A conflict in evidence exists, which raises doubts as
to the testimony sworn by Egan that he had entered
Boiler Room No 1 with no protection when the boiler
room was effectively too hot to access according to
Lt. O'Mahony.
NOTE:
In his statement to Peter Mulvany
dated 31 August
2015, Mr Egan does not record the action described
here:
CPO Egan
states in his evidence:
"The deck hatch over No. 2 Boiler was shut and there
was a heavy concentration of smoke on the boiler
top"
Comment:
A photograph
extracted from a film recorded by Telefis Eireann on
LÉ
Cliona
during the fire shows Stoker Mulligan fighting the
fire from within the top of
Boiler Room No 2 deck
hatch which was OPEN, NOT CLOSED:
NOTE:
In his statement to Peter Mulvany
dated 31 August
2015, Mr Egan does not record the action described
here:
CPO Egan
states in evidence:
"I felt my way over the boiler
(No 2) top down to the
starboard side of the boiler"
Comment:
There is no
evidence from any personnel including Stoker
Mulligan who was fighting the fire from the top and
inside of Boiler Room No 2 roof space that CPO Egan
had entered or was seen in No 2 Boiler Room roof
space. CPO Egan's testimony is uncorroborated in
this regard.
NOTE:
In his statement to Peter Mulvany
dated 31 August
2015, Mr Egan does not record the action described
here:
Captains Standing
Orders regarding Fire and Damage Control:
Paragraph 191 refers
to action when a boiler room must be abandoned
(EVACUATED), it states:- (a) Stop the oil fuel pump
(b) Stop fan engine (c) Open steam drench valve.
Lt. Cdr.
Henry Commanding officer L.E. LÉ Cliona:
in his evidence stated:
"The damage control
party under Lt. O’Mahony were playing a hose into
the Boiler Room and I could see the steam that
had been used to drench the flames. The fire
appeared to be coming under control":
Executive officer
Lieut. P. O’Mahony:
in his evidence stated:
"I TOOK CHARGE OF THE
PARTY, and organised the fighting of the fire. In
the meantime the water hose and portable foam fire
extinguishers were being used, as was steam
drenching, the noise of which made verbal
communication difficult.
NOTE:
Hosing water on a hot bulkhead will generate steam
and the resulting cacophony of noise as the bulkhead
and boilers were cooling down would have given the
impression that the steam drenching system had been
activated:
Comment:
As personnel were
fighting the boiler room fire with hoses
within the Boiler Room spaces, Chief Petty Officer E.R.A.
Egan and Chief Petty Officer Stoker O'Callaghan
opened the steam drench valves located on the boat
deck, thereby recklessly endangering the lives of
the damage control party and other members of crew.
If correctly activated, fatal consequences could
have ensued from the release of superheated steam
into a confined space where personnel were located.
NOTE:
However, while researching this project information was
received that the steam
drenching system was in fact not operable from the
boat deck on LÉ Cliona as the hand wheels had been
deliberately removed from the spindles on both No 1 and No 2 steam drench valves by Chief E.R.A
Egan. Apparently Egan admitted some time after the
fire that he had been concerned the steam drench
valves could be mishandled and decided to disable their operation by removing the hand wheels
of both No 1 and No 2 Boiler steam drench valves making them inoperable
from the boat deck. (Interfering with fire fighting
equipment has legal consequences):
NOTE:
In his statement to Peter Mulvany
dated 31 August
2015, Mr Egan does not record the action
described here:
Significantly, on the 19 October 2015 and on the 03
October 2016 questions were put to Warrant Officer
Maurice Egan NS (Rtd) regarding the issue of steam
drench valves on
LÉ Cliona. Mr Egan never replied: Extracts here for
the record:
Extract: Letter
dated
19 October 2015 to Warrant Officer Maurice Egan
NS (Rtd):
“As the report of
Captain Tom McKenna 31 May 1962 clearly states,
inter alia, that all the main electrical leads and
pipes through it (No 2 Boiler) were destroyed, and
as I understand from boiler fire accidents in naval
vessels of other countries, the boilers on Flower
Class Corvettes may have been fitted with a manually
operated drenching fire prevention system in case of
fire, which may also be fed in an emergency via the
header tanks, and as it appears from your letter
that you were the ERA in charge: Can you explain why
the drench valve, if fitted on Cliona, was not used?
Was that defective ? and if so why?”
NO Reply was received from Mr Egan:
Extract: Letter dated
03 October 2016 to Warrant Officer
Maurice Egan NS (Rtd):
"Of other concern is the issue of a missing steam
drench valve wheel on board Cliona which was a
crucial fire prevention piece of equipment to be
used in case of a fire emergency in the boiler room.
Consequently, in my previous communication, I put
the following to you":
"Quote: “As the report of
Captain Tom McKenna 31 May 1962 clearly states,
inter alia, that all the main electrical leads and
pipes through it (No 2 Boiler) were destroyed, and
as I understand from boiler fire accidents in naval
vessels of other countries, the boilers on Flower
Class Corvettes may have been fitted with a manually
operated drenching fire prevention system in case of
fire, which may also be fed in an emergency via the
header tanks, and as it appears from your letter
that you were the ERA in charge: Can you explain why
the drench valve, if fitted on Cliona, was not used?
Was that defective ? and if so why?" Unquote":
"As you have not commented in reply, I put it to you
that the reason the steam drench valve was not used
was because the wheels were removed from the spindle
making them redundant and inoperable from the boat
deck? I also put it to you that it was your
responsibility as CPO ERA in charge to make sure all
fire prevention equipment was in situ, accessible
and operable? I put it to you that your failure to
do so jeopardised the safety of the crew of Cliona?
and but for the quick reaction of Pat O’Mahony who
immediately entered the boiler room putting his life
in danger to tackle the fire on his own, an action
corroborated by others, it could have been a
disaster”:
"On the 10th June 1948, Pursuant to the
International Convention for the Safety of Life at
Sea (SOLAS) the Irish Government appointed its High
Commissioner in London as plenipotentiary and
thereby accepted in common agreement with other
countries uniform principles and rules as directed
for the Safety of Life at Sea. You should be aware
of the legal imperative pursuant to this convention
which the Irish Naval Service in 1962 was also bound
by, in particular REGULATION 47: (a) QUOTE: “Where
provision is made for the injection of gas or steam
into cargo spaces or boiler rooms for fire
extinguishing purposes, the necessary pipes for
conveying the gas or steam shall be provided with
CONTROL VALVES OR COCKS WHICH SHALL BE READILY
ACCESSIBLE FROM THE DECK IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCE” End of
Quote.
"I therefore put it to you that as the Chief Petty
Officer ERA responsible on board Cliona at the time
you should have faced a General Court Martial post
incident and have allegations tested and decided
upon by a convened military tribunal of the Irish
Defences Forces, as in my opinion the evidence
suggests negligence on your part?"
NO Reply was received from Mr Egan:
Naval
Service Statement to the Department of Defence:
Conclusion Dated 06 July 1964:
"The fire fighting
equipment on board (LÉ Cliona) was adequate and
operated efficiently except for one unit of the foam
making equipment which was damaged in the fire and a
forward section of the fire main"
Comment:
Untrue: The steam drench valves had been made
inoperable from the boat deck by Chief E.R.A Egan.
"The court considered the actions of Lt. O'Mahony,
Chief Stoker O'Callaghan and Chief E.R.A Egan were
mainly responsible for the quick and effective
control of the fire. In this respect Chief E.R.A
Egan deserves special mention"
Comment:
Having examined the Naval Court of Enquiry
transcripts, and received other information, Chief
Stoker O'Callaghan, Chief E.R.A Egan, Leading Stoker
Banim and Lt. Foley should have faced a
courts-martial and have allegations tested more
rigorously. The subsequent Naval Service Enquiry
into the LÉ Cliona Boiler Room fire was primarily
set up to protect the standing of the service and
its adjudication was light touch and foreseeable. Indeed the fact that Sub Lt Johnny Doyle
was detailed to locate civilians
who had been on board LÉ Cliona during the
fire and have them sign disclaimer forms illustrates
the Naval Service was more interested in avoiding potential
claimants for compensation and wanted to bury any
critical investigation/report?
Warrant Officer
Egan NS (Rtd):
Following publication of
a story in the Irish Examiner
"Global support to honour Irish Navy
veterans" by journalist Sean O'Riordan on
Wednesday 26 August
2015, a phone call
was received from Warrant Officer Engineer Maurice Egan (Retd.)
Irish Naval Service, who had been the Chief Petty
Officer E.R.A. (Engine Room Articifer) on board LÉ
Cliona during the boiler room fire 29 May 1962. Mr
Egan robustly challenged the narrative published in
the Irish Examiner. Following a discussion Mr Egan
was invited to record his version of events which he
agreed to do. In his letter Mr Egan asserted that Lt. Pat O'Mahony
the executive officer had said "I'll take my orders
from you chief" suggesting that Chief E.R.A Egan was leading the fire control party.
That is a nonsense and untrue. Lt. Pat O'Mahony led the fire
control party in the boiler room hosing it down to dampen the flames
ably supported by members of Cliona's crew. Independent eye
witnesses have also corroborated Pat O'Mahony's efforts
in articles published by journalist's who were on
board
LÉ
Cliona during the live fire exercise.
1.Cork Examiner 30 May 1962 -
2.Cork Examiner 30 May 1962:
For the purposes of
the record, I am republishing Mr Egan's letter along
with rebuttals:
Letter Received
from
Maurice Egan 31 August 2015:
Letter Sent by
Peter Mulvany 19 October 2015:
Letter Sent by
Peter Mulvany 26 August 2016:
Letter Sent by
Peter Mulvany 03 October 2016:
Leading Stoker Banim:
A review of the
selected transcripts suggests that some coordination
of witness statements had been discussed post the
fire and prior to the enquiry. In other
jurisdictions coaching of witnesses in war crimes
trials has been an issue. In the case of one other
Irish Naval Service enquiry it was suspected that
witnesses had discussed their evidence with each
other prior to the hearing. Regardless, the evidence
of witnesses to the enquiry investigating the LÉ
Cliona boiler room fire has to be treated with
caution. Leading Stoker Banim under oath states he
was going to the heads (The Toilets) when the depth
charge exploded. In fact there is evidence that
Leading Stoker Banim had attempted to intervene with
one other witness and persuade him to support his
presence in the boiler room on the cross platform if questioned by
investigators. As the ship was at action stations
and supposed to be closed up, L/S Banim was in a
cabin on the port side with the porthole open
watching the fireworks "his term": In his
sworn evidence to the Naval Court of Enquiry "L/S
Banim stated, "he was on the cross platform of the
Boiler Room as the fire started and saw the initial
sheet of flame". On the contrary, witness evidence
indicates that if Banim had been present at the time
of the outbreak of the fire on the cross platform he would have been "toast":
The
Engineering Officer: Lt. Foley:
Lt. Foley alleges he was in the engine room
during action stations. Information received
indicates Lt. Foley had retired to his cabin and had
left his action station. It is also apparent that
Lt. Foley, a direct entry officer, was unsuitable
for service on a naval ship and but for the
expertise
of
Lt. Phil Devitt, a reserve naval officer, who
stepped in to support the fire fighting effort of
the crew, matters could have been much
worse. Following a critical determination by the
Naval Court of
Enquiry, Lt. Foley resigned his commission on the 16
November 1962:
Chief Petty Officer Stoker O'Callaghan: Prepare for
Abandoning Ship:
At P5:
Roy Hammond
(RTE Cameraman, Ex
Cork Examiner and Irish Press)
who was on board
LÉ Cliona records in his essay
"Media Memories of
Cork", Published 1994:
"Meanwhile as is the usual procedure we were
told, a ships boat was launched with a petty officer
and four or five ratings aboard, and this pulled
away to stand off a quarter of a mile and waited to
observe what happened to the ship":
Evidence clearly shows there was an order to
"Prepare
for Abandoning Ship" and the whaler was
swung out on its davits and can be seen clearly in a
photograph extracted from an RTE Film. Evidence
communicated from a former member of Cliona's crew
in 2016 indicated that Chief Petty Officer Stoker
O'Callaghan despite the fact no order to abandon
ship had been given, had departed in the whaler with
others, including
a serving future FLAG Officer and
a Junior Officer, and stood off
the stricken Cliona while the crew were engaged in
fighting the fire. There was no order to abandon
ship and that has been corroborated. The usual
procedure is to wait for a direct order to abandon
ship from the Captain and then abandon ship.
(The Abandon Ship order may only be given by the
Captain, or Officer in Charge of a vessel, if the
Captain is incapacitated).
The way individuals departed the stricken Cliona
when the ship was in mortal danger raises questions.
In 2016 Chief Petty Officer Stoker O'Callaghan was
awarded posthumously a scroll of commendation for
fighting the fire.
Lieutenant Patrick
O'Mahony: Executive Officer
At P2:
Report to the Chief of Staff from Captain Thomas
McKenna on fire damage to LÉ Cliona, 31 May 1962
(Military Archives)": Captain McKenna in his
official report records: “Special mention
must be made of Executive Officer Lieut. O’Mahony
who led the fire fighting by his own tenacity got it
under control. Also of leading Stoker Myre (Mynes)
who coolly turned off all connections and then
continued to take his place in the fire fighting
although injured by burning”:
(RTE Cameraman,
Roy Hammond, Ex
Cork Examiner and Irish Press)
who was on board
LÉ Cliona
records in his essay
"Media Memories of
Cork", Published 1994. At P4: “Undisputed hero of the day was the ship's
Executive Officer, Lieut. Pat O’Mahony of Tralee,
and we watched as he went down into the inferno to
fight the fire single-handed while other members of
the fire-control party brought up two stoker ratings
who had been on watch in the boiler-room and were
badly injured”:
At P5: Mr
Hammond records from his position on the bridge and
on the boat deck of LÉ Cliona: “The situation improved as time passed.
Approaching noon the flames and smoke seemed to be
dying down but it wasn't until 1300hrs that a smoke
blackened
Pat O’Mahony came up to report the fire
under control. The emergency was over although for
another two hours buckets of water had to be passed
down to the boiler room to cool off the oil tanks":
NOTE:
Roy Hammond was a photojournalist for the Cork
Examiner and before that the Irish Press. Originally
from England Hammond moved to Cork after meeting,
and marrying, his wife Rose Sheppard from Albert
Road, Cork City, setting up a photography studio at
33 St Patrick’s Street. During World War II, Hammond
served as a
Photographer in the
British Army Film and Photographic Unit,
and he frequently flew with the
6th Airborne Division taking photographs of
experimental loadings of troops and equipment prior
to the 06 June 1944, D-Day: (See the
history of the AFPU (Army Film Photographic Unit) on
D-Day: Imperial War Museum Archive). After VE Day, in 1945,
Hammond was appointed to the Imperial War Graves
Commission
in Berlin,
(now known as the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission),
and spent the next two years attached there. His work included accompanying a
medical officer who was exhuming bodies of RAF
aircrew shot down over the Russian Zone of East
Berlin. Roy would take detailed photos of their
remains prior to their being reinterred in a
military cemetery. This information was also
conveyed to British Army War Crimes Investigators
for their records. As
well as his work as a press photographer for the
Cork Examiner Hammond was a cameraman for RTÉ until
his retirement in 1992. Following his retirement Roy
was entertained in the officers mess on the Irish
Naval Base located on Haulbowline Island. In
attendance were Captain Eoin McNamara (Served as
Ensign on LÉ Cliona during the fire), Commodore Joe
Deasy (FLAG officer Commanding Naval Service),
Captain Liam Brett (Officer Commanding Naval Base),
Captain Bob Guthrie (Engineering Superindent Naval
Service) and Lieut. Commander Charlie O'Donnell
(Served as Ensign on LÉ Cliona during the fire) See
Photo
NS Officers Mess 1992: On his death in 1996 the
Examiner obituary noted: "Roy covered all the major
stories, both in Cork and nationally, he covered
nearly every major story you could think of, he was
a great newsman and a thorough gentleman."
Imperial War Museum Record for Roy Hammond:
Imperial War Museum records show there is an album
and loose prints in their archive relating to the
service of Roy (William) Hammond, who had served as
a Serjeant of the Royal Engineers and was seconded
from the Army Film and Photographic Unit to the 53
Graves Registration Unit in Berlin between 1945 and
1947.
https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205224829
Causation: Premature
Depth Charge Explosion, LÉ Cliona, 29 May 1962:
For years a rumour
was circulated that the crew of LÉ Cliona were to
blame for the premature depth charge explosion that
caused the boiler room fire on the 29 May 1962. It
was alleged that during the live fire exercise one of the depth charges had become jammed
in the stern rails and efforts by the crew to
release the DC had affected the depth setting
causing the premature explosion. In other words the
crew of LÉ Cliona were being unfairly blamed
inferring they were negligent.
The court of
enquiry dated 06 July 1962, advised that a premature
explosion of a depth charge is not considered
responsible for the following reasons. A premature
explosion can only be caused by (1) a broken firing
spring; (2) impact firing, in either of which case
the charge would have exploded on the surface with
disastrous results:"
Comment:
Unclassified British documents, show
clearly that the British Admiralty had conducted Depth
Charge Pistol Fuze Gun Comparative Trials from
1945-1947 using several types of Pistols which
included the Mark 7 pistol, also used in the depth charges aboard LÉ Cliona. The British concluded
inter alia:
1. In hydrostatically operated pistols, firing of
a pistol by countermining is to be EXPECTED if
another charge explodes when it is close to its set
depth.
(Countermining: when one depth charge
detonates the explosion sets of another depth charge
dropped in the pattern.
Note:
Countermining was excluded by the Irish Naval
Service as a cause of the
premature explosion of a depth charge in the case of LÉ Cliona):
2. In cases of Mark 7 and 9 pistols, the nominal
firing depth is NOT the expected firing depth.
3. In cases where a Mark 7 pistol is fitted, leakage
(Water/Sea) into the primer tube may cause the
pistol to fire shallow.
4. During tests, Leakage of sea water into the
primer tube of the pistol was the undoubted
explanation for the five shallow fires, of the 11
failures.
It was also concluded, that due to leakage
(Water/Sea) about 12% of the hydrostatic type and 8%
of the orifice type depth charge pistols will fail
to fire, or will fire sufficiently far from their
set depth to be classed as failures i.e fire
shallow. Ironically 20 years earlier on the 30
March 1942, a similar type premature explosion
resulting from a depth charge occurred on HMS
Belwort (LÉ Cliona) causing the loss of one
crewmember.
Countermining: Mark 7 Depth Charges: US Navy:
In August 1957,
during the filming of the world war two
Hollywood Movie
The Enemy Below,
eleven depth charges exploded prematurely off the
stern of the
USS Whitehurst (DE-634)
18 miles off Pearl Harbor, endangering the lives of
a Hollywood movie cast who were on board to shoot a
movie scene. The Press Report reads:
"Exploding
depth charges send water 100 feet into the air near
the Navy's Destroyer Escort Whitehurst 18 miles from
Pearl Harbour. A Hollywood movie crew aboard the
ship narrowly escaped what the captain said could
have been a serious accident. Among well known
persons working on the film were actor Robert Mitchum,
director Dick Powell and actress June Allyson.
Eleven charges exploded prematurely (AP)".
According to a former Senior Naval Officer USS
Whitehurst:
"This incident was done deliberately to achieve a
dramatic explosion for effect, using a minimum depth
setting with a slow ship's speed".
A former crewmember who served on USS Whitehurst
recalled "We
were told that the depth charges were set to go off
at close to surface level so it would make a higher
splash and be great for special effects. We almost
blew our fantail off during one of those drops".
The absence of enough lifejackets:
At P3: of
"Media
Memories of Cork", Published 1994. Roy Hammond
(RTE Cameraman, Ex Cork Examiner and Irish Press):
Writes: "Each member of crew of Cliona
had their own lifejackets; extra ones were
distributed to the " Passengers". The press party
was the last to be attended to, a rather embarrassed
(Sub Lieut.) Johnny Doyle, the Navy's press officer,
offered the last remaining jacket to a party of five
or six people": A Navy Ship involved in a live fire exercise
proceeding to sea with not enough life jackets
onboard shows a total disregard for the safety of
its crew and passengers.
LÉ Aisling Engine Room Fire - 19 November 1981:
On the 19 November 1981, The LÉ Aisling was
returning from Barry in Wales with a cargo of
ordinance on the after deck when a fire in the
engine room broke out and got out of control.
Abandon Ship was ordered and the escort vessel was
ordered to move off to 5 miles range in the event
she might explode. Petty Officer Michael McIntyre
and Chief Petty Officer Peter Tumulty eventually managed to extinguish the
blaze and prevented a catastrophe. Both Tumulty and
McIntyre were subsequently awarded Distinguished
Service Medals for their actions. The similarities between the boiler
room fire on board LÉ Cliona in 1962, and the engine
room fire on board LÉ Aisling in 1981 was also
reviewed. Following the Aisling enquiry, a recommendation
for an award to Lieut. Pat O’Mahony and Able Stoker
Mynes for their actions in fighting the fire on
board LÉ Cliona 1962 was also submitted. However, no
further action was taken in their case by the
Department of Defence.
LE Cliona Crew List:
https://www.irishseamensrelativesassociation.ie/LE-Cliona-Crewlist.29.05.1962.html
LÉ Cliona Crew Log:
https://www.irishseamensrelativesassociation.ie/LE-Cliona-Log.29.05.1962.html
Friday 25th Sept 2020: Seascapes,
RTÉ Radio One, Maritime Programme:
In discussion with Fergal Keane, Bill Mynes, ex Able Stoker LÉ Cliona
(Discharged Petty Officer Stoker 1964) recalls the boiler room fire on board
the Corvette following a premature depth charge explosion during a live
firing exercise while at sea on the 29th May 1962:
https://fb.watch/eokCpkj2IN/
LÉ Cliona Fire Revisited: RTE Film:
Recorded 29th May 1962:
https://fb.watch/eol3Bdw3cN/
Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/LECliona
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