HC Deb 04 February 1931 vol 247 cc1792-4
10. Commander SOUTHBY

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether any court of inquiry has been held upon any of the officers of His Majesty's ship "Lucia"; whether there has been any recommendation that any of them should be tried by court-martial, seeing that the termination of their appointments, being placed on half-pay and receiving an expression of the Board's serious displeasure does, in the circumstances, constitute an act of summary punishment; whether any of these officers have applied for trial by court-martial; and, if so, what action has been taken in the matter by the Admiralty?

17. Sir NICHOLAS GRATTAN-DOYLE

asked the First, Lord of the Admiralty whether any of the officers whose appointments to His Majesty's ship "Lucia" were recently terminated have applied to be court-martialled; and, if so, what has been the decision of the Board of Admiralty?

Mr. ALEXANDER

A court of inquiry investigated the whole of the circumstances leading up to the recent incident in the "Lucia," and heard the evidence of the officers concerned. With regard to the remaining parts of the questions, I have nothing to add to the statement I made last week.

Commander SOUTHBY

Will the right hon. Gentleman say whether the investigations which have been made into the "Lucia" case justify the censure which he read out in the House the other day being applied equally to the captain and the first divisional officer, and, if so, will he say whether any communication has been received from the captain calling for a court-martial?

Mr. ALEXANDER

The decision of the Board of Admiralty was taken with regard to all the facts, and I think that is a sufficient answer. The answer to the second part of the supplementary question is in the negative.

Sir A. LAMBERT WARD

Is the Board of Admiralty hesitating to grant a court-martial because it believes that the action which the Board has taken with regard to these officers would not be upheld by an impartial tribunal?

Mr. ALEXANDER

Certainly not. I do hope that such insinuations will not be made.

Lieut. - Commander KEN WORTHY

Was not the same procedure as this adopted in the case of Admiral Collard after the "Royal Oak" case; and is it not the case that it was decided without a court-martial that he should not be employed again?

Mr. SPEAKER

That question does not arise.

16. Rear-Admiral SUETER

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether any of the seamen involved in the incident that occurred in the submarine depot ship His Majesty's ship "Lucia" were submarine ratings'; and whether the captain and two officers who have been censured by the Admiralty were submarine officers?

Mr. ALEXANDER

None of the seamen was a submarine rating; of the three officers mentioned in the question, the commanding officer alone was a submarine officer.