MR. GIBSON BOWLES (Lynn Regis)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether the Rule of the Road at Sea applies to fleets engaged in manœuvres; if not, is the Rule to be disregarded by fleets during manœuvres when meeting stranger ships, vessels, or boats not forming part of the manœuvring fleet; whether there is any Rule at all, and, if so, what Rule, for preventing collision between such stranger ships and the ships of the fleet; and are there any means of informing such stranger ships that the Rule of the Road will not be observed?
THE SECRETARY TO THE ADMIRALTY (Sir U. KAY-SHUTTLEWORTH,) Lancashire, ClitheroeThe Rule of the Road does not apply to individual ships or parts of a fleet on meeting, or passing, 1546 when that fleet is actually engaged in manœuvres; but it applies to all cases of a fleet meeting a stranger, be he steamer, sailing ship, or boat.