§ MR. HANBURY (Preston)asked the Secretary of State for War, What is the length and strength of the new sword bayonet now being served out to the Navy; in what principal respects it differs from the old cutless bayonet; 1101 and, what steps were taken before manufacture to ensure complete agreement between the Admiralty and the War Office as to the hardness and strength of the new weapon?
§ THE SURVEYOR GENERAL OF ORDNANCE (Mr. NORTHCOTE) (Exeter)(who replied) said: The sword-bayonet now in course of issue to the Navy is 18¼ inch long. It is required to stand, before deviating from the perpendicular, a vertical pressure of 160 lb. and a spring of one inch without taking a permanent set. It differs from the sword-bayonet now withdrawn from the Navy in being 7¼ inch shorter and 6 ounces lighter. The metal is differently distributed, and the cutlass guard is absent. This sword-bayonet was originally introduced for the Enfield Martini rifle, on the recommendations of the Special Committee on Small Arms; and on Sir Henry Hussey Vivian's Committee recommending that the naval sword-bayonet should be replaced, either by the triangular bayonet or by the Enfield Martini sword-bayonet, the Admiralty chose the latter.
§ MR. HANBURYasked, whether it was of the same pattern as the weapon made by Messrs. Wilkinson?
§ MR. NORTHCOTEYes.