§ VISCOUNT TURNOUR (Sussex, Horsham)To ask the Secretary to the Admiralty if any method exists by which the total weight of metal on a ship can be arrived at; and, if so, whether steps will be taken to find out such weight before any of His Majesty's ships are sold to be broken up.
(Answered by Mr. Edmund Robertson.) The only way of arriving at the total weight of metal on a ship would be to refer to the records of the weighing-in of the ship of her class selected for weighing at the time of the building, due allowance being made for non-metallic materials and for weights with-drawn or added in her subsequent history. The calculation would be rather elaborate and the result approximate only and not commensurate with the labour involved. It is, therefore, not proposed to adopt the course suggested by the noble Lord.