§ ADMIRAL MAYNEI beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether it is proposed to lay down an additional battleship to take the place of the Sultan, which was included in the Scheme of the Strength of the Navy of England relative to those of Foreign 473 Powers in the Naval Defence Programme, and has since been struck off?
§ LORD G. HAMILTONWhen the programme of new construction is more advanced we will consider the question of repairing and re-engineing the Sultan. In the meantime, we do not propose to add to the number of battleships building. The progress of the new ships laid down since 1889 has been so rapid that the relative position of the English Navy as regards new construction, compared with that of Foreign Navies, has much improved during the last two years.