§ CAPTAIN NORTONI beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty what steps, if any, are being taken with reference to submarine torpedo boats, seeing that other maritime countries are devoting increased attention to this question, and that America, after long experiment, is said to have an efficient boat of this type in the "Holland."
MR. GOSCHENClose attention has been given by the Admiralty to the subject of submarine boats. The submarine boat, even if the practical difficulties attending its use can be overcome, would seem, so far as the immediate future is concerned, to be essentially a weapon for maritime Powers on the defensive, and it is natural that those nations which anticipate holding that position should endeavour to develop it. The question of the best way of meeting its attack is receiving much consideration, and it is in this direction that practical suggestions would be valuable. It seems certain that the reply to this weapon must be looked for in other directions than in building submarine boats ourselves, for it is clear that one submarine boat cannot fight another.