§ MR. D. JENKINS,in rising to call attention to the circumstances attending the loss of Her Majesty's Ship Eurydice, said, that he believed the catastrophe was due to either want of skill or want of foresight on the part of some one or another. From all the information he had obtained, he had come to the conclusion that the ship did not possess that stability to enable her to encounter the heavy weather which one of Her Majesty's vessels ought to possess. He did not mean to say that the vessel was unseaworthy; but he had been informed that some nautical men who saw her at Stornoway noticed that she was very crank, and predicted that if she encountered heavy weather the result would be disastrous. At the time of the catastrophe, the Eurydice did not appear to be 1565 carrying any extraordinary press of canvas. It was said that she was struck by a sudden squall, which allowed no time for shortening sail; but other ships in close proximity outrode it. Seamen who were accustomed to the English Channel knew perfectly well that the most dangerous wind was N., and the closer in the more suddenly came these squalls. He had it from the captain of a ship which was three or four miles farther out, and saw Her Majesty's Ship enter the snowstorm; had seen the clouds, and shortened sail. His vessel was one of l,000 tons with 19 hands only. Now, what were the facts? The Eurydice had 30 tons of permanent ballast, and she depended, to a large extent, on consumable stores for her stability—in other words, her safety. He should like to know what was the weight of water ballast in tanks that she carried; but whatever that might be, he could not believe that those tanks as they were emptied of fresh water were refilled for the purpose of ballast with salt water. The two seamen who were saved said in their evidence that they perceived the ship became more lively, or, in other words, less safe. He could not for a moment believe that a seaman of such experience and ability as Captain Hare could have been upon deck at the time. He found, on referring to the list of casualties to Her Majesty's ships, that when accidents occurred they were generally in charge of junior officers, whose experience was insufficient to enable them to act with decision and promptitude. Junior officers should have a previous training by intrusting them with small independent commands—as, for instance, gunboats— before they were allowed to take posts of responsibility on board larger vessels. There was a strong feeling extant that this ship had not had fair play—that she had been sacrificed by neglect— and that she was not, when sent to sea, properly ballasted. He trusted that the Admiralty would be able to prove that everything was done that could be done to insure the safety of the vessel before she left for her last cruise, and that her loss was attributable to a peril of the sea—which certainly was to him a complete mystery.
COLONEL BERESFORDthought that the conclusion the hon. Member had come to was entirely erroneous. The 1566 vessel had been lost, not because she had not sufficient ballast, but because, when the squall struck her, she was under full sail, which caused her to lean over, and as her ports were open the water rushed in and overwhelmed her. That was the explanation of the accident which an old sailor who witnessed the occurrence had given him.
§ MR. MUNTZexpressed his opinion that if the officer in command had looked at the barometer, he must have seen that a squall was approaching.
§ MR. A. F. EGERTONexpressed the deep regret which the Admiralty, in common with the whole country, felt at the loss of the Eurydice. He regretted very much that the hon. Member had thought it necessary to call attention at the present time to the disaster, as within a very few days the whole matter would be most fully investigated by a court martial, and every detail that could be ascertained in connection with the loss of the vessel placed upon record. He objected very strongly to the manner in which the hon. Member had criticized the conduct of the Dockyard officials. The Eurydice was as carefully prepared for the service in which she was sent as any vessel ever fitted out in a Royal Dockyard; and as far as anyone could state, she was a perfectly sound vessel. The vessel was known to be rather a crank ship, but was not supposed to be unsafe. He believed that the weight of her water tanks was 120 tons, and she carried, in addition, 30 tons of ballast. That was the weight of ballast she had had upon all her previous cruises, and he believed there was no foundation for a statement which he had heard made that she was overmasted. There was no doubt she was perfectly fit for service. All her officers were most carefully selected, from her captain, Captain Hare downward, and they were all men of considerable experience. It was the wish of the Admiralty, so far as possible, to intrust junior lieutenants with the command of gun-boats and small craft of that kind, and everything was done that could be done to teach them seamanship. He had only to add that, from a telegram which had just been received, the Eurydice was now in 11 feet of water, and the Admiral Superintendent hoped to have her pumped out to-morrow; so that in a very short time she would be in harbour, and then the 1567 investigation to which he had referred would be made, and until that was done he deprecated any blame being attributed to any officer or man on board the vessel when she sank.
§ Main Question, "That Mr. Speaker do now leave the Chair," put, and agreed to.