§ MR. BELLAIRSTo ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that the German battleship "Nassau," of 17,710 tons, was laid down on 22nd July, 1907, and is to be commissioned in August, 1909; whether any of the vessels recently commissioned or about to be commissioned this year in England, viz.: "Defence," "Shannon," "Minotaur," "Lord Nelson," "Agamemnon," "Indomitable," "Invincible," and "Inflexible," can show as short a space of time from laying of keel to commissioning; and, if not, on what information does he found the official assurance that it will be possible for ships of our 2084 1909 programme to be commissioned; before the completion of the German ships to be laid down in 1908.
(Answered by Mr. McKenna.) The reply to the first part of the Question is in the negative, and the remainder accordingly does not arise.