MR. GIBSON BOWLESI beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty has he now received the further Report from the Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet containing the further details required to show to what extent the gunnery practice ordered by the Commander-in-Chief on 29th April last failed to conform to the Admiralty regulations, or what were the reasons for any variation in the regulation practice; and can he now say in what respects this practice departed from the Admiralty regulations for the attainment of good shooting and proficiency in gunnery.
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. ARNOLD-FORSTER,) Belfast, W.The Report referred to has now been received. The practice conformed in all respects with the Admiralty regulations, except that, for the purpose of practising the crews in rapid firing with several guns at the same time, a certain number of rounds of aiming rifle ammunition were fired simultaneously, and not separately, and the shots, though 791 observed, were not individually marked. The practice is one which has frequently been carried out in the Mediterranean Fleet, and, though it is not prescribed by the regulations, it is entirely within the province of the Commander-in-Chief to sanction it.
MR. GIBSON BOWLESThen am I to understand that the Admiralty approve the practice of firing shots without marking?
§ MR. ARNOLD-FORSTERYes, under these circumstances.