§ MR. J. PENN (Lewisham)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty if he could state to the House how many assistant engineers joined the Navy from Keyham in each of the years 1893, 1894, 1895; what was the length of training of these engineers, and how many engineer students there are at present at Keyham; and how many appointments as temporary and probationary engineers were offered; how many candidates presented themselves; and how many received appointments in each of the above years?
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. W. E. MACARTNEY,) Antrim, S.The number of assistant engineers who joined the Navy from Keyham in the years specified was as follows:—In 1893, 31 (22 of four years' service and nine of five years' service); in 1894, 29 (20 of four and nine of five years' service); in 1895, 26 (15 of four and 11 of five years' service). There are at present 176 engineer students at the Keyham College and six students of Naval construction. As regards assistant engineers for temporary service no appointments were offered in 1893. It was subseequently decided to enter a total number of 40, spreading the entry over two or three years, but no limit to the number of appointments in each year was stated. In 1894 34 candidates, selected from a number of applicants, were examined, 12 of whom were entered. In 1895 there were 41 selected candidates, and of these 17 were entered. As regards direct entry of probationary assistant engineers, no limit to numbers was stated. The actual entries in 1893, 1894 and 1895 were two, 10 and eight respectively, from a total of selected candidates in the respective years of seven, 20 and 12.