HC Deb 15 July 1907 vol 178 c312
MR. HUNT

I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether the forty-three warships transferred from the seagoing squadron of the Channel Fleet to the Home Fleet are always as instantly ready to meet a sudden attack as if they had been left with the sea-going squadron under the immediate command of Lord Charles Beresford.

MR. EDMUND ROBERTSON

The reply is in the affirmative. The Admiralty deprecate any comparison between the respective merits of the Flag Officers commanding the different fleets.

MR. HUNT

Are these warships just as ready now as they would be under the immediate command of an Admiral, and why cannot they remain under his command?

MR. EDMUND ROBERTSON'S

reply was understood to be that that was a question for the Admiralty to decide.