HC Deb 28 March 1889 vol 334 cc1033-4
Sir E. J. REED (Cardiff)

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the items of expenditure referred to in the side-heading No. 4, pages 4 and 5, of the Parliamentary Return, "Naval Expenditure," No. 444, 1888, viz., "Armaments, including fittings," differ in any respects from the items of expenditure referred to in the new Naval Programme, under the designation "Armaments," the aggregate cost of which for the ships of the Programme is to be £5,350,000; and, if so, what items were excluded in one case and included in the other?

LORD G. HAMILTON

In reply to the hon. Member's question, Return No. 444 gave, as is stated in the note, only the expenditure on ships which was provided out of Naval Votes. The armaments were provided for in the Army Estimates up to last year. Under the heading "Armaments" in the new Naval Programme, all the Ordnance stores are now included, as they are provided for under Vote 9, Navy Estimates.

Sir E. J. REED

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the battle ships of the first class proposed under the New Programme were, in so far as their thick side-armour was concerned, to be protected to the height of the upper deck in wake of the engines and boilers, like the Nile and Trafalgar, and other ships of the Dreadnought type, or whether their thick armour at that part was to be limited to a water line belt, rising no higher than the main deck, as was the case in the vessels of the Admiral type; and, if so, what were the respective heights above water to which the thick armour would be carried in the Nile and Trafalgar, and in the proposed ships?

LORD G. HAMILTON

The facts as to the disposition of the armour in the new designs for first-class battle ships have been given in Parliamentary Paper C. 5,648, pages 4 and 5, also in Parliamentary Paper C. 5,635, paragraphs 8–11, page 5, and in clause 3, page 10. By these Papers it will be seen that the answer to the first part of the question is in the negative; to the second part that the height of the thick-belt armour is to be 3ft. above water, with an additional height of 5-inch armour, making a total of 9½ft. above water. The answer to the third part of the question is: for the Nile and the Trafalgar about 10ft. as completed, for the new ships about 3ft.