SIR U. KAY - SHUTTLEWORTH (Lancashire, Clitheroe)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty, in reference to the expenditure, in the {year 1889, of £51,175 in raising Her Majesty's Ship Sultan, and of £11,496 in fitting her for the voyage home, set forth on p. 148 of the Navy Appropriation Account, whether any steps have been taken, since the ship reached this country, to prepare her for use as an effective man-of-war; why no provision has been made in this year's Estimates for that purpose; and whether any expenditure is contemplated; and, if not, what are the intentions of the Admiralty with regard to this ship?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY (Lord G. HAMILTON, Middlesex, Ealing)No steps have been taken to prepare the Sultan for use as an effective man-of-war beyond a careful examination of her condition and a rough estimate of the cost' of refitting the ship. This work will not be undertaken until the vessels now under re-construction and re-fit are more advanced or completed.