§ MR. BELLAIRSI beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that during 1903–4 and 1904–5 H.M.S. "Philomel" had £23,825 spent on her repairs, and that in October, 1904, she was included in the list of 155 ships purporting to have been struck off the list of effective ships of war; whether he can state the number of miles steamed by this ship with her own engines after the completion of her thorough repairs in 1904 before she was towed back in 1906 to Haulbowline to be again refitted for her commission as a cruiser attached, to the battle squadron in the Mediterranean; and whether he can state how long the repairs spread over 1906 and subsequently took, and what was the total cost.
§ MR. McKENNAThe figures given in the first part of my hon. friend's Question, if intended to apply to Return No. 74 of 1905, are approximately correct. The ship carried out a full-power trial after refit, and steamed about 160 miles for this purpose. The last refit occupied from September, 1906, till February, 2113 1908, and was carried out concurrently with other work at Haulbowline. The cost was £13,619, which included arrangements for magazine cooling. The "Philomel" is attached to the Mediterranean Fleet primarily to be available for particular service if requested by the Foreign Office or Colonial Office, in time of peace, especially in the Red Sea, where she has been for some months this year.