§ MR. BELLAIRSI beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the captain of H.M.S. "Berwick" was a member of the court martial inquiry into the collision of H.M.S. "Berwick" with H.M.S. "Tiger," by which the latter vessel was lost.
§ MR. MCKENNAThe Answer to the hon. Member's Question is in the affirmative.
§ MR. BELLAIRSWill the right hon. Gentleman take into consideration how undesirable it is for a captain of one ship in a collision to be a member of the Court which tries the officer commanding the other ship?
§ MR. MCKENNAI agree. But it is the rule that all captains shall serve, and unless objection was taken, the captain in question was bound to serve. The misfortune was that no objection was taken.
§ EARL WINTERTON (Sussex, Horsham)asked if the right hon. Gentleman could give an undertaking that in future this should not occur again.
§ MR. MCKENNAI hope so. I hope that in future cases objection will always be taken.