§ MR. YERBURGHTo ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether the Admiralty have now ascertained the particulars of the Russian shipbuilding programme of the present year; and whether they have any information as to when and in what yards the ships will be laid down.
(Answered by Mr. Arnold-Forster.) The Admiralty have not received official particulars as to the Russian shipbuilding programme. Such particulars are not published or made public by the Russian Government. It is known, however, that two first-class battleships have now been commenced in the Black Sea, and it is 62 considered probable that two more will be laid down at an early date in the Baltic.