§ Mr. AMMON (by Private Notice)asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he can make a statement to the House concerning the reports about H.M.S. "Royal Oak"?
§ Mr. BRIDGEMANI received the notice which the hon. Member has been good enough to send me a few minutes ago, and I have made inquiries in the short interval between that moment and this, but I am afraid that I am unable to give any details of what happened in the "Royal Oak." All we have got at present is a wireless report, a great deal of which, owing to corrupt transmission, is not very easy to decipher, and I hope in the course of a day or two to get the full written account of, what has happened. I hope hon. Members will not give too much credence to sensational reports which may be appearing in the Press. There has been no court-martial, as far as I am aware. There has been an inquiry, hut we have not as yet received the report of the inquiry. As far as I am able to ascertain, that inquiry merely concerned two or three senior officers in the "Royal Oak."
§ Mr. AMMONMay I take it that there is no truth in the statement in one of the papers this morning that the flag has been hauled down?
§ Mr. BRIDGEMANThere, again, I only speak with some reservation, but I understood that the Admiral's flag had been transferred to another ship.
§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYIn view of the great importance of this matter and the rumours and reports that have appeared in the papers, and in the interests of the Navy, I take it that the full facts will be made known publicly at the earliest possible moment?
§ Mr. BRIDGEMANThe hon. and gallant gentleman knows what the rules are about Courts of Inquiry, and I leave that with him. I quite agree that it is very desirable that exaggerations or distortions of the facts should not be spread abroad, and I am sure that he and my hon. Friend opposite will have the patience to wait until I can give an account of which I am really sure. It would be in nobody's interest that I should go beyond the very bare facts that I understood from the wireless message, and any attempt on my part to interpret what, is rather an obscure telegram would, I think, do far more harm than good at the present moment.