MR. W. G. CAVENDISH BENTINCK (Penryn and Falmouth)asked the First Lord of the Admiralty, Whether H.M. Training Ship Ganges, at present stationed in Falmouth Harbour, is commissioned without guns; whether the boys who are undergoing instructions in gunnery are obliged to proceed to Devonport for that purpose; and, whether he will take into consideration the advisability of permanently stationing a guardship or gunboat at Falmouth as a means of defence?
§ THE FIRST LORD (Lord GEORGE HAMILTON) (Middlesex, Ealing)Being only a training ship for boys, the Ganges carries no guns, except two for drill purposes. The final instruction in gunnery is carried out in the gunnery ship at Devonport, which has been found to be the most convenient course. It is not proposed to station a guardship or a gunboat at Falmouth permanently for purposes of defence.