§ SIR EDWARD GOURLEY (Sunderland)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether it has been reported to the Admiralty that, when the Victorious took the ground outside Port Said, on steaming astern, she floated and anchored; that her cable parted; and that, when the second anchor was let go, the second cable parted? Can he state the size of 24 and where the cables were manufactured, and when and where they were tested, and to what strain? Will he state to what extent the vessel was lightened prior to being floated, and whether she had to be still further lightened to pass the canal? And, if it is intended, and how, to examine the damage to the lower structure of the ship, and where it is to be repaired?
§ MR. MACARTNEYThe answer to the first paragraph is in the affirmative. The cables are 2 9–16th inches, and were manufactured by Messrs. Parkes and Co. and Lord Dudley's Roundoak Works. They were tested, as usual, under Admiralty inspection, at a public test house, to a proof strain of 118 tons. The ship was lightened about 1,000 tons before floating. No information has been received as to her having been still further lightened to pass through the canal. It has been reported that she has sustained no damage from grounding.