Capt. F. A. Buckley, who commanded the battleship Malaya when she was in collision with a Dutch steamer off the Portuguese coast, gave evidence recently before Mr. Justice Bucknill in the Admiralty Division.
The collision took place in fogsy weather, and it had been stated that the damage to the Malaya cost nearly £25,000.
The plaintiffs were Ratterdamsche Lloyd Company, owners of the Kertosono (7323 tons), who contended that the Malaya collided with the Kertosono through negligence in navigation.
For the Malaya it was pleaded that the accident was solely due to the Kertosono's negligence. Both ships denied negligence.
Mr. Harold F. Flannery, a marine surveyor, who described the damage to both ships, said:
"In my view the greater speed was on the Malaya, She was probably travelling at 7 to 8 knots and the Kertosono 4 to 5 knots.
"Part of the stem of the Kertosono was crushed back, and the other part projected over the warship and raked its deck, some of the Malaya's 4-in. high-angle guns being knocked over by the impact."
Capt. Buckley, who was the nomina al defendant, described times taken in stopping the Malaya. At a test, he said, when the engines were put at ordinary full-speed astern at 7.1 knots, the battleship brought up in 360 yards in min. 24sec.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.