HC Deb 07 March 1890 vol 342 cc251-2
MR. HANBURY (Preston)

I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether about 1,000 boiler tubes were received at Malta from Deptford in 1887, of which nearly 800 were condemned on arrival as "not reliable;" whether under the store instructions, when stores are sent abroad, "the most particular care is to be taken to select for that purpose the best articles of every kind; whether a largo proportion of the same order had already been rejected at Deptford, and what was the total percentage of rejections at Deptford and Malta together; who was the contractor who supplied them, and what amount of orders has he since received; and whether, as stated by the Auditor General, it is intended to use the 800 boiler tubes rejected at Malta as "not reliable" for use in the Naval Service as opportunities offer?

THE FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY (LORD GEORGE HAMILTON,) Middlesex, Ealing

The answer to the first two questions is, yes. Of the first delivery of tubes about 30 per cent, of the total order were rejected at Deptford. The second delivery of tubes was tested at Deptford and stood the tests. These tubes, when being subsequently fitted in the boilers of torpedo boats at Malta, disclosed defects which the previous tests at Deptford had not brought to light, and 65 of these having been tested at Malta with unsatisfactory results, it was decided to send back the whole of the tubes to Deptford. Iron tubes are not now purchased for boilers, and the tubes required for the foreign yards are now tested at Chatham. Messrs. E. Lewis and Sons, Wolverhampton, were the contractors. No further orders for iron tubes have been given to Messrs. Lewis; but an order for 1,250 steel tubes was placed with them in March, 1889. In consequence, however, of delay in the delivery of these tubes, it was decided that Messrs. Lewis should not be asked to tender again in 1889. The 800 boiler tubes rejected at Malta were considered "not reliable" for use for boilers in Her Majesty's ships; but they can and will be utilised in connection with the supply of fresh and salt water, and for air pipes and other similar services.