From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Witness report on the sinking of the boat 'Miss England II' and an analysis of the cause of the accident.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 174\5\ img108 | |
| Date | 29th June 1930 guessed | |
| 17 Segrave and Mr. Willcocks were being lifted out of the water and we then secured the vicinity to try and find Mr. Halliwell. The Boat was then floating upside down with the stern well out of the water and I could see that the propeller shaft, rudder and propellers were all intact. After all hopes of rescuing Mr. Halliwell had been abandoned we went back to Berwick's Boathouse to inform Mr. Cooper of what had happened, and take him to Miss England II. We returned with Mr. Cooper but found that the Boat had been disturbed in attempts to tow her in and this had caused the supporting air to escape through the hatch openings. The Boat was rapidly settling down in the water and we immediately proceeded to an L. M.{Mr Moon / Mr Moore} S. Steamer which was standing some little distance away and solicited their help to take her in tow. Unfortunately Miss England II disappeared below the surface of the water before the Steamer could reach her. When I first saw the Boat after the accident I noticed that a portion of the port side step had been torn away leaving splintered wood at the rear end of the step. I was subsequently shown a portion of the broken step which had been recovered from the Lake. From the shape of the broken step and the nature of the fractures I formed the opinion that the step must have struck some object in the water which had caused it to be holed. This would cause water to immediately enter the hollow portion of the step and since very little of the surface of the broken portion of the step would be in contact with the water at the speed at which the Boat was travelling the bursting pressure would be very high and this would have a tendency to tear the step away from its fixings. I subsequently saw the branch of timber now produced. If the step of the Boat was struck by this piece of timber at the speed at which she was travelling immediately prior to -5- | ||