Mr. HO RE-BELISHAasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, in the inquiry into the loss of the Admiralty tug "St. Genny," in the recent gales, the question of the advisability of sending these small craft out in stormy weather will be investigated?
Mr. ALEXANDERA Court of Inquiry has already been held, and the point in880W question has also been investigated. The question of the advisability or otherwise of sending small craft to sea in unsettled weather is always present to the mind of the senior officer, who has the ordering of the movements of His Majesty's ships under his command. The weather at Portland when the "St. Genny," in company with the sloop "Snapdragon" and a sister tug left on Saturday afternoon, 11th January, was fine and gave no indication of the approach of a storm of such exceptional severity as was in fact encountered. The first warning of a severe gale, though issued at the earliest possible moment by the Meteorological Department, was broadcast to shipping shortly after noon on Sunday. By this time the vessels were approaching Ushant. I should like to add that the conduct of all concerned on this occasion appears to have been highly creditable. In the conditions of wind and sea prevailing at the time, very little in the way of saving life was possible, but the excellent handling of the remaining ships resulted in five survivors from the "St. Genny" being picked up from the water.