HC Deb 25 June 1908 vol 191 cc74-6
MR. ASHLEY

I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty if the Board will grant a Return of casualties to warships such as has been issued for many years past.

MR. McKENNA

This matter has been the subject of long and careful consideration, and the conclusion we have come to is that we should not continue in this or future years to publish a Return of casualties to ships, the completeness of which it is impossible to guarantee.

MR. ASHLEY

In view of the necessity for discussing the administration of the present Board of Admiralty, will the Prime Minister take steps to allot the usual number of days for Navy Votes, instead of cutting them short?

THE PRIME MINISTER AND FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. ASQUITH,) Fifeshire, E.

I must ask for notice of that Question.

MR. BELLAIRS (Lynn Regis)

When the right hon. Gentleman the First Lord of the Admiralty says it is impossible to guarantee a complete casualty Return, is he not aware that there are three separate ways in which all casualties come before the Admiralty? It is the duty of the admiral in the first place, by regulation, to report to the Admiralty, then, secondly, all the collisions have to be logged, and copies of the log sent on; and, finally, the accounts for all repairs must be passed by the Admiralty.

MR. McKENNA

No one is better aware than the hon. and gallant Member that many of the casualties are of such a trifling nature that they do not call for dockyard repairs, and are not, in fact, reported to the Admiralty. Consequently, there would be no opportunity for including them in the Return to which the hon. Member refers.

MR. BELLAIRS

But is it not the duty of the officer in command to log and report every collision and every grounding?

MR. McKENNA

Yes; but the collision may be of a kind which the captain may think it unnecessary to report to the Admiralty, and he does not do so.

MR. BELLAIRS

Then I give notice that I will call attention to this matter upon the Navy Estimates. I will then cite cases where vessels have been repaired in dockyards, but which were not included in the Return. Did not the right hon. Gentleman the First Lord of the Admiralty promise a Return for this year when he said His Majesty's ship "Angler" would be included in the 1908 Return?

MR. McKENNA

At that time the form of the Return was under consideration by the Board, who have now come to the conclusion that it is undesirable to continue to publish the Return.

MR. COCHRANE (Ayrshire, N.)

Can we have a Return of all cases where dockyard repairs are necessary?

MR. McKENNA

I will consider that point.

MR. BOWLES (Lambeth, Norwood)

But is it not the fact that this Return has been ordered by the House of Commons?

MR. McKENNA

It was only ordered for the year.

LORD R. CECIL (Marylebone, E.)

Is it going to be presented for this year?

MR. SPEAKER

Order, order. There have been, I think, seven supplementary Questions to this one Question; and as these are 112 Questions on the Paper, I think others should have a chance.