§ 19. Mr. STOURTONasked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he is now in a position to state whit was presumed to be the cause of the disaster to Submarine M 2; and what is the progress of salvage operations to date?
The FIRST LORD of the ADMIRALTY (Sir Bolton Eyres Monsell)No conclusive evidence has yet been obtained, and it is unlikely that the true explanation as to the cause of the disaster will be discovered until "M 2" is salved. Since the reply given on the 21st of last month to the hon. Member for Leigh (Mr. Tinker), the hatch from the hangar into the submarine and the conning tower hatch have been sealed in preparation for blowing the pressure hull clear of water with compressed air. Bad weather conditions have prevented all but a few hours' work since the 26th March.