§ MR. EVERETT (Suffolk, Woodbridge)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty in connection with the case of the ss. "Ariadne," whose perilous position on the dangerous Shipwash sands at 4.30 p.m. on the 19th June was telephoned to the coastguards at Aldeburgh, Suffolk, from the Shipwash light vessel, if he will explain why the chief officer of the coastguards at the Aldeburgh station, Suffolk, kept secret the telephone message, and did not post it up in the usual way on the station; and why this officer forbade his men to give this information to the lifeboat men, who, acting on a rumour about five hours later that night, launched their lifeboat to the steamer, and lay alongside till 4.30 p.m. the next afternoon, when the steamer floated.
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. Edmund Robertson,) DundeeThe coastguard watchman telephoned to the Shipwash light vessel to ask if the steamer required anything. The master of the Shipwash light vessel replied that the steamer had touched forward, that throe tugs were standing by her, but that the steamer did not require their assistance and that she had no distress signals hoisted. The master of the light vessel also asked the coast guard watchman not to report to the lifeboat authorities, as he (the master of the light vessel) had strict orders not to call the lifeboat out unless she was actually required. The coastguard watch man reported accordingly to his chief officer, and in these circumstances the latter did not consider any further steps necessary and did not post up any notice. The crew were not forbidden to give information to the lifeboat authorities.