§ MR. GOURLEYI beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty how long it is since the ironclad Victoria, was commissioned for sea service, and when the defective gun is expected to be repaired and tested; whether it is correct that the vessel is to be sent to join the Mediterranean Squadron with a borrowed gun, and without a proper examination of either the three remaining original guns or the gun belonging to another ship; and whether it is the intention of the Government to appoint an Ordnance Committee, or a Committee of the House of Commons, for the purpose of ascertaining how far the existing type of big gun is suitable for naval warfare?
§ LORD G. HAMILTONThe Victoria was to have been commissioned last summer, but was delayed by the long series of proof trials through which her second big gun was put. This gun, in passing this ordeal, showed some defects, which, although they did not render the gun unsafe or unserviceable, prevented its being accepted as a perfect gun, and it has been returned to the makers. A strengthened gun, as I stated on the 29th of November last, was supplied within three weeks, and has taken the place of the rejected gun. The statement in question No. 3 is untrue, as the Victoria will be sent to the Mediterranean with guns which have been satisfactorily tested in accordance with the service regulations, and a proper examination of the guns has been also carried out. The guns in the Victoria will remain appropriated to her. The armament of the various ships in the new programme was settled after an exhaustive inquiry, and is fixed by an Act of Parliament, and I have no intention of altering it or of appointing a Committee to inquire into the conclusions then deliberately arrived at.