MR. OWEN STANLEYsaid, in rising to put the Questions, of which he had given notice, to the Secretary of the Admiralty in connection with the loss of the Bombay, he must preface them by stating that that vessel left Monte Video for practice, and having sailed about fifteen miles, she placed one target for that purpose. About 3.30 the fire-bell rang, the mainmast fell at 4.15, and the foremast went at 5.5; the magazine exploded about 8.25, and ninety-two souls perished, not by fire, but by drowning, out of a crew of 620 630 men, and two officers were lost, neither being able to swim. He held in his hand a copy of a letter written by Lieutenant Carr, who was in the vessel, and in which he said—
I am sure no man who could swim need have lost his life that day; those who could not were too stupified to help themselves. Though a deal of gear was thrown overboard that would have floated, many, many poor wretches (marines) I saw who could not swim jumping overboard, boots, coats, and all. I saw all this from the quarter-deck netting. Had the breeze been as strong as it was an hour before, half those saved would have been lost. Want of powers of swimming was the cause of their deaths. We had no men in their beds; luckily all the sick were saved, or rather saved themselves.In the early part of the present year, he might add, twenty cadets of the mercantile marine were out sailing in the river, when the boat was upset, and ten of them were drowned. Under those circumstances, he wished to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty, If there was any special, Report made to the Lords of the Admiralty by the Admiral of the station as to the loss of ninety-two Sailors and Marines from the burning of Her Majesty's ship Bombay off Monte Video, on the 14th of last December; if he can state the number of Marines and Sailors who were drowned separately, and the length of time that elapsed from the first breaking out of the fire to the sinking of the ship; if there were any patent Lifebelts on board; and, if so, if they were used? If there is any order, rule, or system in the Navy or the Marine Corps under which the recruits or men are taught to swim, and if the boys in the service are instructed in the art of swimming; and how many the crew of Her Majesty's ship Bombay were on the 14th of December?
§ LORD CLARENCE PAGET,in reply, stated that the cadets on board the Worcester were not under the control of the Admiralty, and that the death from drowning of the ten boys at Erith, however much it was to be regretted, could not be laid at the door of that Department. In answer to the questions which had reference to the loss of the Bombay, he had to inform the hon. Gentleman that the number of those who perished on that occasion amounted in all to ninety-one, including two officers, forty-seven seamen, eight boys, and thirty-four marines. On board all our training ships distinct orders were issued by the Admiralty to the effect that all the boys should be taught to swim. Occasion- 631 ally it was reported that some boys were so nervous that they could not be taught, and it was curious that one of the boys who was drowned in the case of the Bombay was a boy who had been brought up on board the Excellent, but who could never learn the art of swimming. He would not trouble the House by entering into the details of the regulations on the subject which had been laid down by the Admiralty for the boys in our training ships as well as for recruits in the marine barracks, but he could assure the hon Gentleman that they were very stringent, and that additional instructions had been issued that they should not be neglected. With regard to life-belts, various proposals had been made to the Admiralty, and had been tried. The men had in some instances been supplied with cork beds with the view of saving life in the event of the occurrence of any disaster, but it was found they objected altogether to the use of those beds. There were at present life-belts of a very simple construction in use in the Channel fleet on trial, and if the report of them was favourable they would be generally used. There were also life-belts at our Coastguard stations, and the usual life-buoys on board every ship. The total number of men on board the Bombay had been 641, of whom, as already stated, ninety-one were lost. The length of time between the discovery of the fire and the blowing up of the ship he found was exactly four hours and three quarters. He should be happy to give further information if any were possessed by the Admiralty, but it had never been satisfactorily ascertained how the fire originated, and all the other facts had been laid before the public.
MR. OWEN STANLEYsaid, he wished to add that last year the Holy head lifeboat went out with fifteen men on board; the boat was upset, but, all having on the lifebelts supplied by the Royal Humane Society, they were picked up by a steamer with the exception of one man, and it was supposed that he had been struck by a spar.
§ MR. CAVEsaid, that he might reply to that portion of the Question which the noble Lord had not been able to answer. Boys on board the Worcester were taught to swim, and since the accident occurred some time ago a rule had been made that those boys who could not swim should not be allowed to go out in sailing-boats.