§ MR. F. E. SMITH (Liverpool, Walton)To ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether he can state the total sum spent during the last eighteen months on the battleships "Sanspariel," "Anson," "Camperdown," "Benbow," "Howe," and 'Rodney," officially classed as first-class battleships; and whether the Admiralty are of opinion that the sum expended maintains the vessels in a state of immediate readiness for war.
(Answered by Mr. Edmund Robertson.) The sum of £1,489 has been spent on the ships named during the last eighteen months. The expenditure was not for the purpose of maintaining the ships in a state of readiness for war, but with a view to their upkeep pending removal to the sale list next year.