§ MR. GOURLEY (Sunderland)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, when the Barham broke down for the third time on Thursday last, the engines were being worked at the guaranteed power of 6,000 horses; if not, at what rate; whether the main cause of this vessel's repeated breakdowns is that no margin is left for the expansion of the tubes when subject to intense heat, the result being that the tubes are forced through the plates at the fire-box, and thus the collapse of the boilers; and what steps are being adopted to make the vessel seaworthy, and also to prevent similar casualties occurring with the sister ship Bellona, now in course of completion?
§ LORD G. HAMILTONThe machinery of the Barham was not being worked on Thursday, the 24th inst., at the power specified, but at 3,800 horses, being 300 above the guaranteed natural draught power. The boilers of this ship are of the wet bottom locomotive type, and were constructed by a firm having great experience in boilers of this class in the usual manner, and with provision for expansion under heat. The cause of the leakage of the tubes is under investigation, and experiments are now being made as to the steps to be taken to overcome this defect, both in the Bellona as well as the Barham.