Report of the formal inquiry investigating the loss of the MV ‘Princess Victoria’

The 22 page Board of Trade report into the loss of the MV ‘Princess Victoria’.  The inquiry was held between March and May 1953 and published as 23 page report in June of the same year.   The front page of the report summarises the inquiry’s findings:   “The committee having carefully inquired into the circumstances attending the above-mentioned shipping casualty, finds for the reasons stated in the Annex hereto, that the loss of the MV ‘Princess Victoria’ was due to her unseaworthy condition arising from two circumstances: 1 – the inadequacy of the stern doors, which yielded to the stress of the sea, thus permitting the influx of water into the car space; 2 – the inadequacy of the clearing arrangements, for the water which accumulated on the freeboard deck causing an increased list to the starboard, culminating in the ship capsizing and foundering”.