§ LORD CHARLES BERESFORDI beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he has received the Report of the firing practice at an experimental 1363 target by H.M.S. Jupiter, of the Channel Squadron, on or about the 12th April last; whether the number of rounds actually fired by the barbette and 6-inch guns approximated to the number of rounds which should have been fired in the time occupied; whether there were any miss-fires; if so, how many, and from which guns, and whether these miss-fires were electrically fired or by friction tube; and whether the result of the firing is considered satisfactory, especially as regards the number of rounds actually fired by the barbette and 6-inch guns?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTYI have not yet seen the Report; it is now under examination at the Gunnery School at Portsmouth. But I should not in any case be prepared to answer the noble Lord's Question. The experiments were made on the Jupiter, with a view to obtaining special information required for the benefit of our own naval force; and I do not propose to publish it authoritatively for the guidance of all other navies.