§ COLONEL MALCOLM (Argyllshire)asked the First Lord of the Admiralty, Whether he could give any explanation or details of the firing of a shot or shell by Her Majesty's ship Ajax, on Friday last, into the town of Innellan, on the shores of the Clyde; and, whether he would give instructions that such bombardment by Her Majesty's ships in the Firth of Clyde should not be repeated?
§ THE FIRST LORD (Lord GEORGE HAMILTON) (Middlesex, Ealing)I have had inquiries made into the transaction, and I am informed that an accidental discharge of one of the Ajax turret guns occurred while she was on her way down the Clyde. The exact cause of the misadventure has not yet been fully ascertained; but it appears to have resulted from some accidental disturbance of the electric gun circuit. The cause of the accident will be fully inquired into by officers specially selected for the purpose. An officer has been sent from the Admiralty to investigate the amount of damage done to private property at 180 Innellan, with a view to its being made good.