§ MR. BELLAIRS (Lynn Regis)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty what were the average and minimum ages of the officers promoted from lieutenant to commander in the last batch of promotions; and on what calculation does he base the estimate that the rank of commander will be reached at about thirty-seven years of age under the new system of providing officers for the Navy.
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. EDMUND ROBERTSON,) DundeeThe average and minimum ages were thirty-two years four months and thirty years respectively. With regard to the last part of the Question—which, I understand, refers to a statement made by me in the course of the debate on Navy Vote 5—what I had intended to say was that the rank of commander would be reached at from thirty-two to thirty-seven. The rank of lieutenant 764 will be reached at about twenty-two-and-a-half, and it is estimated that from ten to fourteen years or thereabouts will elapse before a lieutenant becomes commander.