THE HARBOUR OF BALAKLAVA— QUESTION.

HC Deb 05 February 1855 vol 136 cc1270-2

MR. DEEDES

Mr. Speaker, seeing the hon. and gallant Admiral who is a Member of the Board of Admiralty in his place, I beg to ask him a question of which I have not given notice. It having been stated not only by private channels of communication, but also in the public journals, that very great confusion and mismanagement existed at Balaklava among the shipping, and that no arrangements were made for the landing of the cargoes when the ships arrived there, I wish to ask the hon. and gallant Admiral whether any information has been received by the Admiralty on the subject, and whether the case is as stated; and, if so, whether any and what steps have been taken to put an end to such a state of things?

ADMIRAL BERKELEY

Sir, I am quite prepared to answer, and, I trust, satisfactorily, the question of the hon. Gentleman by reading, with the permission of the House, some extracts from letters which have been received from Admiral Lyons and from the captains of transports on the spot. The Board of Admiralty wrote to Sir Edmund Lyons, stating that the reports to which the hon. Gentleman has referred with respect to the harbour of Balaklava had been published in this country, and requesting a statement of the facts. Admiral Lyons replied as follows on the 13th of January— But to revert to the inside of the harbour, the responsibility for the first three weeks rests with me, for I had the superintendence, and all I will say of myself is, that I naturally did my best to promote the success of an object I had so much at heart; but of my assistants I may say that no man ever had a more able one than I had in Captain Mends, for the details of landing the cargoes, or a more efficient one than I had in Captain Heath, for all the duties relating to the ingress, berthing, and egress of the shipping. Thanks, in a great measure, to the zeal and foresight of Rear Admiral Stewart, boats were not wanting, and their Lordships may be assured that the best use was made of them by Captains Davies and Heath and Commander Powell, whose praiseworthy conduct has won for them the admiration of the army and the goodwill of all. I observe that it is alleged that quantities of hay and firewood were allowed to float about the harbour when both were in much request, and I freely admit it must have appeared so to passers by; but the truth is, the hay had become so saturated with salt water in the late hurricane that the animals would not eat the innermost part of the trusses. The wood was only fit for firewood, and it was considered that the best means of preventing its being pilfered was to let it float out of the reach of the strand until measures could be taken for collecting and distributing it. The next extract I beg to read is also from Admiral Lyons. It is dated the 20th of January, off Sebastopol— With reference to your letter of the 18th ultimo, addressed to my predecessor, and to mine of the 13th instant, in reply thereto, I beg to transmit some documents which I have received from Captain Heath, of the Sanspareil, by which their Lordships will observe that many of the accounts of the confusion in Balaklava harbour, if not altogether untrue, are at least greatly exaggerated. I will now read the answers from thirty-six masters of transports to Captain Heath— Balaklava Harbour, Jan. 13. It is with much pleasure that, on the eve of your departure, we bear testimony to your unceasing endeavours to regulate the berthing and insure the safety of the ships in this harbour. We are, &c. [Signed by thirty-six masters of transports."] I have several other answers to the statements referred to by the hon. Gentleman; couched in equally strong language. The following is an extract from a report of Captain Robert Methuen, of the steam transport, Colombo, of 1,800 tons— The gale threw everything into confusion; but, by great exertions, a rearrangement was effected, and since then the most watchful care of the shipping in all cases, which seemed to require interference, seems to me to have been afforded. The pilotage of the port, under Captain Powell, requiring the largest ships to be handled, under critical circumstances, has caused me repeatedly to express my most unqualified admira- tion. This duty has called for incessant labour, and it has been bestowed with the most untiring zeal, temper, and cheerfulness, and with an ability not to be surpassed by the most practised hand. On such occasions, when Captain Powell could not himself attend, or when two heads were better than one, I observed that Captain Heath was himself always present. For some weeks past (say four) large bollards have been placed for securing moorings of a light description; and in other respects, having three times entered and departed from this port, I have to state that every application for assistance to either Captain Heath or Captain Powell has been responded to, and I consider the present state of the harbour a marvel of exact arrangement, and the amount of accommodation afforded only to be exampled by one of the crowded docks of Liverpool.