SIR JOHN COLOMB&c) (Tower Hamlets, Bow,I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty how many Lieutenants are now serving in Her Majesty's Ships at home and abroad; how many Lieutenants are now unemployed and available as a reserve for filling up casualties in ships now in commission; how many Lieutenants serving in ships in commission are fully qualified Gunnery Lieutenants; and, how many of the Lieutenants unemployed are so qualified?
§ * THE FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY (Lord G. HAMILTON,) Middlesex, EalingThere are 857 lieutenants on the present Navy List, of whom 782 are employed in the mobilised Fleet, or in ships at home and abroad. 38 are serving in the Coastguard, and the remaining 37 are either on half-pay, the sick list, or casual employment. There is, therefore, in the present state of the lists, little reserve. It must, however, be remembered that at the present moment the Fleet is on a war footing with a peace establishment, and that in the case of real emergency all the lieutenants referred to, as well as those in harbour ships and the Retired List, would, in addition to officers of the Royal Naval Reserve, be available for service. Of the gunnery lieutenants, 74 out of 79 are serving at the present time. It was settled some time back to raise the lieutenants' list to 1,000, and steps were taken two years ago to carry out this object by largely increasing the number of cadets annually entered.