§ 14. Mr. MIDDLEMOREasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that the total number of active-list lieu tenants, apart from staff officers, borne in the battleships "Dreadnought," "Temeraire," and "Superb," and the battlecruiser "Inflexible," was only twentyeight in December, 1912, as compared with thirty-six in December, 1911; and 2051 whether this is due to a reduction in the duties required of officers of this rank or to an insufficiency in the number of those available?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThe correct figures for the two months quoted are not twenty-eight and thirty-six but thirty-two and thirty-four, respectively, excluding lieutenants borne additional for training as assistant navigating officers. The difference of two, not eight as stated in the question, is accounted for by the substitution of an officer of the Royal Marines in the "Temeraire" and "Superb" for a lieutenant Royal Navy, which was done to bring these ships into line with other modern battleships. There is, therefore, no diminution in the number of officers employed in these ships.