§ MR. BELLAIRS (Lynn Regis)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that in September a statement purporting to be issued by the Admiralty was published giving for the new battleships now building of the "St. Vincent" class the armament in guns and torpedoes, the description of gun-mountings, and the number of rounds of ammunition supplied for each gun under the different headings of armour-piercing projectiles and common and lyddite shells, together with shrapnel for the 4-inch guns; and whether he can state if the publication of these details, hitherto regarded as confidential, was authorised by the Admiralty.
§ MR. McKENNAThe details given in the statement to which I take my hon. friend to refer are inaccurate, and their publication was unauthorised.