§ MR. NIELD (Middlesex, Ealing)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty how many of the eighty-seven torpedo boats figuring in the recently issued Return are upwards of fifteen years old; how many are capable of attaining in practice the speed of a modern battleship, and how many are armed with the obsolete 14-inch torpedo; and what is the number of torpedo boats and destroyers building and projected for the chief naval Powers.
§ MR. EDMUND ROBERTSONOf the eighty-five torpedo boats now on the list fifty-five are upwards of fifteen years old. These might be expected to attain a speed of from seventeen to eighteen knots. Of the remaining thirty, seventeen could probably reach twenty knots and thirteen over twenty-three knots. Sixty-four of these boats are armed with 14-inch torpedoes, but the torpedoes are of types which are not considered obsolete. The number of destroyers building for Great Britain is eighteen, and fourteen are included in the programme of new construction for this year. As regards the other great naval Powers, the position is as follows. France: Under construction, fourteen destroyers, thirty torpedo boats. Projected, eleven destroyers, eleven torpedo boats. Germany: Under construction, fourteen destroyers. Projected, four destroyers. Russia: Under construction, sixteen destroyers. Italy: Under construction, four destroyers, fourteen torpedo boats. Projected, ten 1344 destroyers, fifteen torpedo boats. United States: Under construction, no destroyers or torpedo boats. Projected, three destroyers. Japan: Under construction, twelve destroyers.