§ The transfer to Naval Votes of the cost of Naval Ordnance has been associated during the past year with the difficulties which the assumption of new duties and responsibilities generally entails. In this instance they have been aggravated by the necessity of the Admiralty employing as their agents the very Department with whom they were not always in accord upon questions where the interests of the Army and Navy where not identical.
§ Considering the controversial nature of the points to be settled and the financial bearing upon the expenditure of the two departments by the division of the stores hitherto held in common, the work done has been remarkable. In future years, now that the ground has been cleared, there is little likelihood of a recurrence of these kinds of questions, which have now been decided once for all.
§ The Estimates as submitted by the Dockyard Officers for items of incidental charges were reduced by more that £30,000, but it appears, from the latest returns of actual expenditure, that a saving may be expected at the end of the year upon the approved Estimates as reduced.
§ Still further reductions have been made in Estimates of this class for 1889–90, and there is good reason to hope, that in a short time, the incidential expenditure will be brought down to a reasonable percentage upon the direct charges.
§ The number of men employed on board the various tugs and harbour craft have been considerably reduced without loss of efficiency. They swelled the incidental expenditure and had little to do, so that action in this direction was urgently needed.
§ The Cost Account System has worked fairly well during the year, and has given us returns of expenditure which will be useful in checking the value of work done, and in providing reliable data for estimating purposes in the future.
§ An account of expenditure upon alterations and additions separate from that upon repairs is about to be commenced for "Minotaur" and "Thunderer." After this has been started and tried in practice, it may be found possible to extend the system to all ships upon which alterations and additions are ordered to be carried out, and which are likely to cost over £200.
§ The cost of repairs, alterations, and additions to the vessels which took part in the Summer Manœuvres will be heavier than was anticipated when the Estimates for the current year were framed, but the excess is due to numerous alterations and additions proposed to be carried out in the various ships.
§ The "Nile," whose original estimate has been reduced by £80,000 for labour, and £10,000 for material, has been advanced during the year to such an extent as to admit, if necessary, of her completion in 1889–90.
§ Substantial reductions have been made in the previous estimates for building "Barrosa" (£3,000 for labour), "Anson" (£1,800 labour and £10,000 for material), "Howe" (£700 for labour and £3,300 material) and "Beagle" (£2,000 labour and material).
§ Ships repaired or repairing for recommission:—
| Ship. | Service for which Repaired. | Cost of Repairs. (Dockyard.) | Amount less than that taken in the Estimates (Approximate). |
| £ | £ | ||
| "Penelope" | Cape of Good Hope | 11,757 | 1,000 |
| "Tyne" | Troop service | 6,105 | 4,800 |
| "Cleopatra" | Reliefs | 31,500 | 4,000 |
| (Approximate.) | |||
| "Champion" | Reliefs | 30,500 | 4,400 |
| "Victory" | Guardship | 8,260 | 1,740 |
§ The work of re-engining "Superb" and "Thunderer" has been commenced, and will be completed next year. The building of a superstructure and carrying out repairs to "Hydra" and "Cyclops" will be completed this year. The repair of "Triumph," "Achilles," "Minotaur," "Nelson," and "Audacious," will be completed during the forthcoming financial year, and the reconstruction of the "Rupert" and "Devastation" will be well advanced.
§ The amount of the deficiencies of Ordnance Stores for Naval Service has now been ascertained, and, although they are serious, it is hoped they may be made up gradually in the course of the next three years, without in the meantime running any very great risk, as, by means of the increased plant recently put up by the Private Trade, ammunition for the smaller natures of guns could be produced very quickly in the event of an emergency, whilst as regards projectiles of the heavier natures, which take a long time to make, arrangements have been made for ordering these in larger proportions at once.
§ As is well-known, there has been very great delay in completing ships with guns. This delay was due to the faulty principle which was adopted in the design of these guns, viz., that of placing liners in the bores; these liners, when the guns were proved, cracked, and very considerable delay was caused before the guns were repaired and made efficient for issue to the Fleet. These difficulties, it is believed, have now been got over, and the War Office are of opinion that the block as regards ships of the Admiral Class and the belted cruisers will be removed by June, that is, in sufficient time to admit of all the ships otherwise ready taking part in the Summer Manœuvres. It is believed that no further difficulties or delays need be anticipated in the future delivery of guns, as in the gun designs now approved, the features which have led to the failures above referred to have been eliminated.
§ With reference to the new Shipbuilding Programme, the whole of the requirements for the large guns (that is, those taking more than a year to manufacture) have been made known to the War Office, and from reliable information which has been received and verified by personal inquiries, there seems to be no doubt, in view of the simpler form of gun designs now adopted, and of the larger experi- ence and greatly increased plant of the private manufacturers, that the guns will be ready in ample time for the ships requiring them.
§ The 4.7-inch Quick-firing Gun has been brought into use since the date of my last Annual Statement, and all the anticipations have been fully realized as to the very great advantages possessed by this type of gun, more especially in resisting the attacks of torpedo vessels, and in enabling more accurate practice to be made when ships are moving at great speed. Practice from slow-firing guns under such conditions must be most uncertain on account of the very great alteration in distance between the rounds.
§ During the year ending 31st December 1888, 160 new Breech Loading Guns have been completed for the Navy, including one 16¼-inch 111-ton gun, 6 13½-inch 68-ton, 9 12-inch 45-ton, and 6 9.2-inch 22-ton guns. During the same period 262 14-inch Whitehead Torpedoes have been manufactured and issued for Naval Service.