§ DR. MACGREGORI beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty if he be now at liberty to say whether the officer next in command is to be permitted any discretion in the execution of orders when it appears inevitable that such orders will result in the loss of life and property?
MR. GIBSON BOWLES (Lynn Regis)At the same time, I will ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether all orders given by a superior officer in Her Majesty's Navy to a Captain of a ship are always subject to the paramount condition "with due regard to the safety of Her Majesty's ships"; and, in case obedience to such an order would entail a collision with a friend or endanger a ship in any other way, is it the duty of any such Captain to avoid that danger by forbearing to obey such an order; is it a Regulation of Her Majesty's Navy that in case it appears to the Captain of a ship that the course ordered by his superior officer would endanger his ship, it is the Captain's duty (such orders notwithstanding) to take such steps as may be necessary to avoid any such danger, and is not the responsibility for so doing thrown entirely on the Captain; and is it, further, the Captain's duty, when time or circumstances do not admit of the Admiral's permission being obtained, to take such steps without such permission?
SIR U. KAY-SHUTTLEWORTHThe Minutes (which are voluminous) of the Court Martial on the loss of the Victoria have reached the Admiralty and are being printed with a view to their full consideration by the Board. Meanwhile, it seems undesirable to give any answers which might be interpreted as referring to officers concerned in the events which led to the Court Martial.