Captain TUDOR-REESasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether the sum of £3,740 for the repair of the tug "Ulysses" was paid to the repairers, while the owner of the tug had already been paid for such repairs; how these repairs came to be paid for twice over; who was responsible for the mistake; and what action has been taken in the matter?
§ Mr. AMERYThe sum of £3,740, representing part of the cost of repairing damage to the tug "Ulysses" sustained in collision with a submarine, was paid in error to the repairers, the claim of the tug owners having been settled separately on the usual basis of a limited liability of £8 a ton on the tonnage of the submarine. The error in paying any money at all to the repairers was due mainly to a mistake on the part of a temporary clerk, who has since left the Department. Legal action was taken to effect recovery of the erroneous payment, and on the 23rd February the Crown obtained judgment for the amount reclaimed, with costs.