§ ADMIRAL E. FIELD (Sussex, Eastbourne)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the 4-inch and 6-inch breech-loading guns supplied to the 1213 Dœdalus, Royal Naval Reserve drill ship at Bristol in September, 1895, and January, 1896, respectively, are still lying on her main deck unmounted, as was the case on 22nd September, 1897, when a Member of this House visited the ship; and whether any other of the drill ships are in the same unsatisfactory condition in respect of facilities for instructing the seamen of the Royal Naval Reserve in the working of such guns?
§ MR. MACARTNEYThe guns specified in the Question are now mounted. Some delay was occasioned by the fact that it was contemplated to relieve the Dœdalus by a modern cruiser, but this has not yet been carried out. All the guns belonging to other drill ships are mounted.