§ VISCOUNT SIDMOUTH, seeing the noble Lord who represented the Admiralty (Lord Elphinstone) in his place, and knowing the great interest that was felt by the public in everything that related to the Eurydice, begged to ask, Whether the noble Lord was in a position to give the House, before Parliament separated, any information with respect to the condition of this vessel? He was induced to put the Question more especially by the unfavourable reports which had reached him of the progress of the operations. Those operations had now been going on for some time, and no doubt they would eventually be successful; but he wished to know if anything had happened which had delayed them?
LORD ELPHINSTONEsaid, that he was very glad the Question had been asked, because it enabled him, before the House separated, to fulfil a promise that he had made in the early part of the Session, to the effect that he should be at all times happy to give every information in his power with regard to the Eurydice; and he was happy to be able to inform their Lordships that she was now lying inside the Isle of Wight in a position in which she was perfectly protected from the influence either of tide or weather, and in 11 feet of water. She was being pumped out that day, and in a few days she would be cleared out, and taken into Portsmouth Harbour. When she arrived there, there would be a very searching investigation made, and a court martial would be held; although he confessed he did not for one moment think that anything would result from that investigation, or that any new light would be thrown by the court martial upon the cause of the catastrophe. The cause was, to his own mind, perfectly clear. The ship was 1628 struck by a sudden and violent squall, and received what he might term a knock-down blow. She never recovered from that blow, but sunk at once. He was the more confirmed in this opinion from having seen several bodies recovered from the upper deck of the vessel showing that they were thrown to leeward. The ropes and other gear had been thrown on the top of them, and they had not had time to extricate themselves before the vessel sank. He stated on a former occasion that he thought that in all probability, within three or four weeks' time, the Eurydice would be raised and towed into Portsmouth Harbour; and from what he had since seen he did not think that, had the weather been at all favourable, he had very much understated the time. But everything had been, as their Lordships knew, against the raising of that ship. In the first place, it must be borne in mind that the ship sank in 12 fathoms of water, in a strong tide way, with a very short period of, slack water, the tide running from 3 to 5 knots an hour, with a period of slackwater of only 20 minutes; and it was only during that short period of slack water that diving operations could be carried on. In the second place, the weather had been most unusually stormy, and the whole of the operations had been interrupted in consequence. The result had been that the ship gradually worked herself into a dock, or hole, nearly 12 feet deep, and out of that hole she had to be lifted. She was lifted, and she was then brought into Sandown Bay by successive lifts—a distance of about 2¼ miles —where it was intended that her ports should be securely closed. She would then have been pumped out, floated, and taken into Portsmouth Harbour. Everything was nearly ready for this operation. Two tides—and two tides only— would have been sufficient to complete the operation. But the same evil fate seemed to pursue the ship. A strong easterly wind sprang up, and so damaged the upper deck that it destroyed the preparations which had been made. The idea of pumping her out had to be abandoned, and it was decided that she should again be lifted and brought inside the Isle of Wight—a distance of about six miles from her former position, and where she now was. It had often been asked why she had been 1629 taken into so exposed a position as San-down Bay at all? The answer was that it was absolutely necessary to move her into shoal water as quickly as possible, and Sandown Bay was the nearest and most convenient place. There was no reason to anticipate a gale of wind from the east at that time of the year; and, indeed, the records of weather, for the last three years at any rate—probably for a much longer period—had not led one to anticipate the weather that was then experienced. However, he was glad to add that all cause of further apprehension had ceased, she was now in a place of safety, and no further difficulties of that nature need be apprehended. Such was briefly an account of the recovery of that ship, and he could not altogether pass from this subject without alluding to the impression he had formed of the manner in which that result had been obtained; and that impression was formed, not from any hearsay evidence, but from repeated personal observations. He was present at the attempt made to lift her on the 2nd of last month; all was then going well, the ship was off the ground, when a strong breeze set in from the east, bringing with it a nasty sea that caused the lifting vessels to pitch heavily. The consequence was that an unequal strain was brought upon the hawsers, one of the toggles broke, and the attempt had to be abandoned. He was again present a fortnight later when the tides suited, the weather proved favourable, and the ship was lifted and placed upon a new bed. That was the crucial test. It was successful, and he was perfectly satisfied that he was right in saying that had the weather been favourable for the operations, that result would have been obtained long before. He had repeatedly been present since that day; but what had struck him most—more even than the great skill, both scientific and professional, that had undoubtedly been displayed—was the wonderful amount of energy shown, not only by Admiral Foley himself, but by every officer and man under his orders. The energy which had been displayed was, in his opinion, beyond praise. Difficulties that would have daunted most men only made them the more determined to succeed. Many—indeed, most—men would have been tempted to give up in despair, as time after time they were 1630 driven from their work by bad weather. Not less than 15 times they were forced to desist. Several times the whole of the vessels had to be brought into harbour for shelter, yet they were not discouraged, and their untiring efforts had been at last crowned with success. It had been, he could assure their Lordships, no child's play. To fully estimate and appreciate the work that had to be accomplished, the wreck should have been visited during the operations. There were no instances on record of similar results having been achieved under similar circumstances; and all must, he felt sure, rejoice at the success of those who had laboured so long and so determinedly to bring about that result.