§ MR. STANIER (Shropshire, Newport)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty if he can give the names of the two destroyers bought by the Government to replace the "Gala" and "Tiger;" and whether they equal them in speed, armament, radius of action, and sea-going qualities.
§ MR. MCKENNAThe ships referred to have not yet completed their trials, and consequently have not been adopted into the Royal Navy nor been given names.
§ MR. STANIERAre they of the river class?
§ MR. MCKENNAThey cannot be defined as belonging to any particular class—either the river or the tidal.
§ MR. STANIERDid not the right hon. Gentleman himself say they would be in the river class?
§ MR. MCKENNAThis is a very technical question. So far as we have seen they cannot in all respects be described as belonging to the river class. It all depends on the trials which are still proceeding.