§ Mr. G. Palmer moved for a select committee, to inquire into the shipwreck of British vessels, and the means of preserving the lives and property of shipwrecked persons. He made the motion with the concurrence of the right hon. Baronet at the head of her Majesty's Government.
§ Mr. T. Duncombebegged to ask if any inquiry had been instituted into the circumstances attending the loss of the two transport ships, Abercrombie Robinson and Waterloo, in Table Bay, at the Cape of Good Hope, during the last year. One of these was a convict ship, the whole of the crew of which, as well as the soldiers 703 and convicts, had been lost. He understood it had been condemned as unfit to go to sea, and too old for the timber trade; yet parties had been found to enter into a contract for the conveyance of convicts to Van Dieman's land in that ship.
Captain Gordonbelieved that certain inquiries had been made regarding he melancholy occurrence to which the hon. Gentleman referred. The convict ship alluded to stood on Lloyd's list in the first class. On the occasion in question, both ships had driven from their anchors, and been blown on shore in a heavy gale of wind. One ship went to pieces in a very short time, while the other certainly held together for a considerably longer time. One went on shore at the top of high water, the other at low water; one end on, the other broadside on. These were very important points of difference; and though both ships had been equally sea-worthy, one of them would have gone to pieces much sooner than the other. Since that time a new system of surveying had been originated by the Admiralty for all ships to be taken up as transport or convict ships, by which the whole of the inner part of the ship's framework would be laid open, and the surveyor would be enabled, if necessary, to remove the whole of the planking.
§ Captain Pechellsuggested the propriety of admitting evidence before the hon. Member's committee, as to the necessity of forming breakwaters in the various harbours on the coast, for which a variety of plans had been suggested, and as to the best species of breakwater.
§ Motion agreed to.