§ MR. HARMSWORTHTo ask the Secretary to the Admiralty if he can state what steps the Admiralty propose to take to improve the shooting in the following ships, the "Speedy," "Hannibal," "Vengeance," "Aboukir" "Cressy," "Bulwark," and "Canopus," in view of the results obtained by these ships in recent firings.
(Answered by Mr. Arnold-Forster.) The Admiralty are fully alive to the importance of good shooting in the Navy, and take all the steps which they consider necessary to improve it. It is the practice of the Admiralty, as well as of the Commanders in-Chief on the several stations, to correct and call attention to any cases of indifferent shooting, and to commend ships in which the practice is specially good. I wish to add that the conclusions drawn from the mere record of prize firing are likely to be misleading unless the circumstances under which the firing is carried out in each case are taken into account. Thus, in reference to the "Speedy" mentioned in the hon. Member's Question, while there were no actual hits on the target the Captain reports:—"Though the target was not actually struck, I consider the shooting was very good, as the men were severely handicapped by the motion of the ship and the strong wind blowing across the range."