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).
Newspaper clippings from the Evening Chronicle detailing the inquest into the fatal 'Miss England' speedboat accident.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 174\5\ img083 | |
| Date | 5th July 1930 | |
| Evening Chronicle 5th July 1930. WHY MISS ENGLAND OVERTURNED. "BLOW FROM OBJECT IN THE WATER." — The Designer. From Our Own Reporter. Hawkshead, Saturday. The last chapter of a great adventure was reached in the tiny lakeland village of Hawkshead this afternoon when the Ulverston Coroner (Mr. F.{Mr Friese} W. Poole) and a jury met to determine the circumstances which brought Sir Henry Segrave and Mr. Halliwell to their deaths in the disaster to Miss England II. on Windermere on that ill-fated Friday, June 13. A verdict of “Accidental death” was returned. Miss England II. overturned and sank a few moments after creating a new world's speed record of 98.76 miles an hour. Sir Henry Segrave was so severely injured that he died three hours afterwards. Halliwell’s body was not recovered until two days later. The only survivor of Miss England's crew, Michael Willcocks, brought to the court a small scale model of Miss England II. which was prepared to show the detail of her hull construction. Mr. A.{Mr Adams} V.{VIENNA} Nutt represented the Rolls Royce Company; Mr. H.{Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} Handley appeared for the designer of Miss England; Mr. F.{Mr Friese} Cooper, and Mr. H.{Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} S. Chamberlain appeared for Lord Wakefield. Lady Segrave was not present. At the opening, Mr. Handley, addressing the jury, said that since the accident they had collected sufficient data to enable them to say definitely that the disaster was due to one cause and one cause only. Exhibiting the wooden model of Miss England II. to the jury, Mr. Handley explained that the forward deck, which was shown on the photographs to have been broken, was made of three skins of mahogany placed diagonally across each other. WHAT HAPPENED. This plane was bolted on to the hull to form a rigid member. The port side of the step was ruptured, continued Mr. Handley, the result being that a portion of the step two feet from the after end of the step came away and fell down, forming a flat. The function of this step is to lift the boat out of the water when running at speed. When this fell down on the port side, hinge fashion, there was an enormous lifting power exerted on the port side of the boat, and she was tilted over. That was what actually happened. ‘We shall produce the evidence of Mr. Cooper, the designer of both Miss England I and Miss England II, and who has been closely associated with all boats of that class in this country. From the evidence he found he came to the conclusion that the rupture was caused by a blow from some object floating on the water.’ RISK EXPLAINED. After medical evidence had been given and Police-Constable Armstrong told of finding Halliwell’s body, Michael Willcocks told his story. He said he was specially engaged by Sir Henry as engineer and riding mechanic. Sir Henry did not offer him the job until he had carefully explained the risk to him and emphasised that the enterprise was highly dangerous. ‘Accompanied by Sir Henry on June 13 we went out to attack the record,’ said Mr. Willcocks. ‘My seat was on the starboard side. Mr. Halliwell was on the port side and Sir Henry in the centre, our usual positions.’ ‘I was about to go forward when Sir Henry touched me on the shoulder and I returned to my seat. Sir Henry hit me on the shoulder and put his thumbs up,’ continued the witness. ‘I shouted, “Bravo, sir,” meaning the record, and he nodded.’ ‘He was obviously delighted. He then accelerated and turned for a third run. We were now travelling much faster than on any previous run. I was actually looking ahead when I felt a dull thud which seemed to be on the port side.’ THROWN OUT. ‘Up to that moment everything had functioned perfectly. Immediately the boat lifted slightly on the port side, and then the nosed dived and the boat checked. Then came a slight turn to starboard and the boat lifted to starboard. When the boat was half-way over I was thrown out.’ ‘In the water,’ he proceeded, ‘he found one of the hatches. He climbed on it, but went down. He was rescued by Major Harold Pattinson's boat.’ Willcocks said he would be prepared and was anxious, indeed, to go in Miss England if she ran again. ‘I am perfectly confident it was not due to any fault of Miss England II.,’ he added. FLOATING BRANCH. Mr. John Kitchen, of Brookfield, said he was a boatbuilder and watched the trials with technical interest. ‘I never saw a speedboat run so perfectly,’ he said. After describing the accident as it appeared to him from a launch, he said that afterwards he found almost on Miss England's course, 200 or 300 yards from the scene of the accident, part of a waterlogged branch, which he produced. The Coroner: Suppose before the trials the course had been swept, might the suction of Miss England's passing have drawn up driftwood from the bottom? Witness: Yes, very easily. Mr. J.{Mr Johnson W.M.} E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} Ellor, of Derby, experimental engineer with Rolls Royce Company, said after the boat had been raised the engines were in perfect condition. Mr. Fred Cooper, joint architect and designer of Miss England II., said, ‘I am satisfied that the rupture has been caused by striking some floating object. If the step had been burst by pressure the fracture would not have been in the opposite direction.’ Summing up, the Coroner said: ‘You will agree that the boat stood up in every possible way to the highest expectations of the designers and builders.’ On the evidence it is clear that this accident was caused by a piece of timber or something floating in the water,’ he added. In returning the verdict the foreman stated that they quite concurred with the coroner’s remarks. | ||