HC Deb 27 March 1907 vol 171 cc1782-4
CAPTAIN HERVEY (Bury St. Edmunds)

To ask the Secretary to the Admiralty if he has any official information showing that the number of collisions and groundings of His Majesty's ships in the years 1905–6 were the result of the employment of officers being so restricted in consequence of the redistribution of the fleet; and if he will state the number of collisions and groundings in 1905–6, and in previous years.

(Answered by Mr. Edmund Robertson.) The redistribution of the fleet has not restricted the employment of officers. The number of His Majesty's ships exercised at sea in the years 1905, excluding manœuvres, and 1906, including manœuvres, was greater than in previous years. The number of groundings has steadily decreased since 1882, as shown by the attached table. A bare statement of the number of collisions would be misleading, as some were not due to any want of care on the part of the officers in charge of His Majesty's ships.

Year. Number of Ships in Commission. Total Number of Groundings. Percentage of Groundings to Number of Ships.
Excluding Manœuvres. Including Manœuvres. Excluding Manœuvres. Including Manœuvres.
1882 210 — 44 21.0 —
1883 208 — 41 19.7 —
1884 210 — 49 23.3 —
1885 217 — 41 18.9 —
1886 221 — 40 18.1 —
1887 222 265 47 21.2 17.7
1888 228 257 35 15.4 13.6
1889 232 280 34 14.7 12.1
1890 235 250 28 11.9 11.2
1891 247 285 35 14.2 12.3
1892 250 290 31 12.4 10.7
1893 245 280 29 11.8 10.4
1894 230 270 27 11.7 10.0
1895 269 325 20 7.4 6.2
1896 271 318 32 11.8 10.1
1897 286 325 18 6.3 5.5
1898 284 329 29 10.2 8.8
1899 292 333 26 8.9 7.8
1900 328 346 35 10.7 10.1
1901 332 — 36 10.8 —
1902 337 — 36 10.7 —
1903 332 376 29 8.7 7.7
1904 308 370 30 9.7 8.9
1905 354 — 41 11.5 —
1906 300 including ships in commission in reserve. 386 28 9.3 8.2