§ LORD CHARLES BERESFORD (Marylebone, E.)asked the First Lord of the Admiralty, Whether he is aware that the Lord Warden and Repulse, two of the armour battle ships mentioned in the Parliamentary Return, No. 218, just issued, are offered to the public for sale at page '257 of the present monthly Navy List; whether it is intended to repair, with a view to their use as battle ships, the Minotaur, Achilles, Warrior, Hector, Defence, and Valiant, which are also put down in the same Return, to make up the number of 49 English battle ships 1528 built and building, but which six ships are noted as "non-effective unless repaired; whether it is true that only six of the 12 coast defence vessels given in the Return are available for the coast defence of Great Britain and Ireland, the other six being in Indian and Colonial harbours; and, whether it is true that the whole of the 19 coast defence vessels mentioned in the Return as belonging to France will be available for the coast defence of France?
§ THE FIRST LORD (Lord GEORGE HAMILTON) (Middlesex, Ealing)It is quite true that the Lord Warden and Repulse were offered for sale, and also that the six other ships mentioned in the second Question are—as pointed out in the Return—"non-effective unless repaired" It is proposed to repair one of them, the Achilles, at once, and the repair of the remainder will largely depend upon the results of experiments now being conducted at Portsmouth with shells filled with high explosives. These vessels were included in the Return, as they have their armament and are a match for the ships of a similar date included in the Return relating to the Navies of other nations. Six only of the 12 coast defence vessels are available for the protection of Great Britain and Ireland, the remainder being allocated to Indian and Colonial Ports. The 19 coast defence vessels of Franco consist of 11 coast defence vessels and eight armoured gunboats. Of the 11 coast defence vessels six only are efficient; and of the armoured gunboats four only are complete.