HC Deb 15 August 1907 vol 180 cc1584-5
MR. J. D. WHITE (Dumbartonshire)

I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty, as the proposed torpedo range in Loch Long would be 7,000 yards long, with a breadth at the target end of only 200 yards on each side of the central line, whether the Admiralty can under take that torpedoes would never diverge from the central line sufficiently to pass from the range into the fairway.

THE CIVIL LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. LAMBERT,) Devonshire, South Molton

I must refer my hon. friend to the printed reply to this Question on Tuesday last.†

MR. J. D. WHITE

I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether his attention has been called to the fact that, in the event of the radius of action of torpedoes being increased to six miles and of the proposed torpedo range in Loch Long being correspondingly lengthened, that range would extend down the loch from shore to shore; and whether, in the event of Loch Long being adopted as the site for the proposed torpedo range, the Admiralty would give an undertaking that neither the length nor the breadth of the torpedo range would be increased beyond the limits at present proposed.

MR. LAMBERT

My hon. friend will, I hope, excuse me from dealing with hypothetical problems as to what would happen in the event of the radius of torpedo action being increased. Such problems can be dealt with when occasion arises. I may add that Loch Long has been selected as the best site, with the most convenient facilities, for a torpedo

†See (4) Debates, clxxx., 1046.

range in the whole of the United Kingdom.