§ SIR WILLIAM PLOWDEN (Wolverhampton, W.)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty what are the names of the compositions which have been used in the Navy for the first time since the date of Commander Pitt's appointment at the Admiralty; whether the experts on the late Committee or the technical Dockyard Officers have been consulted as to the efficacy of Commander Pitt's instructions for guidance in the application of compositions to the bottoms of Her Majesty's ships, and as to the applicability of these instructions to the various compositions in use in the Navy; and whether any manufacturers who supply compositions to the Admiralty have been consulted by Commander Pitt with reference to these instructions; and, if so, what firms or agents?
§ * THE FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY (Lord G. HAMILTON,) Middlesex, EalingApart from the compositions which have been applied experimentally, Rahtjen's composition is the one which has been adopted for the use of the Navy since the Committee made their Report. This composition was at the time under 1899 trial. The answer to the second question is "No," the Admiralty being fully able to deal with the matter themselves. The reply to the third question is "Yes," namely, the Maritime and General Improvement Company:—Messrs. Peacock and Buchan, and the Suter, Hartmann, and Rahtjen's Composition Company.