§ Mr. LOUGHI wish to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty a question of which I have given him private notice, whether he can state, with regard to each of the completed German "Dreadnoughts," what length of time elapsed from the issue of the official order to the date at which it was completed, and what is the number of men provided for in the Naval Estimates of Germany, France, and the United States respectively?
§ Mr. McKENNAIt is not possible to-answer the question as to the date when the official order was given for each of the completed German "Dreadnoughts," as no information on the subject has been communicated to the Admiralty. The dates which I stated yesterday to my right hon. Friend are the dates of the laying down of the ships in August, 1907. Having regard to the novelty of the design of the ships, I do not think that the official orders-could have been given very long previously to that time. The number of men provided for by" the Naval Estimates in 1910–11 in the following countries is—Germany, 57,391; France, 58,595; and the United States of America, 62,487. None of those numbers have been yet agreed to in the several Houses of Parliament. I should also add that the figures standing by them selves might be misleading, as in some of the countries named greater reliance is placed on the reserve than is done in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. GIBSON BOWLESMay I ask whether the right hon. Gentleman could not obtain the dates of the laying down of the vessels through His Majesty's Ambassador at Berlin.
§ Mr. McKENNAYes; we have the laying down dates.
§ Mr. BOWLESI mean the dates of the issue of the orders.
§ Mr. McKENNAI assume the official orders correspond to the dates of the laying dawn of the ships.
§ Mr. LOUGHWould it be possible that any ship could be laid down at the date of the official order, and will my right hon. Friend try to find out the dates of the official orders?
§ Mr. McKENNAWith regard to these four ships my right hon. Friend will remember that they were of an entirely novel design, and the orders for the ships have been delayed for a long time through the fact that the designs were not ready.
§ Mr. ROBERT HARCOURTMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether those vessels did nòt belong to the previous year's programme, 1906, and were laid down in 1907.
§ Mr. McKENNAYes; they belonged to the 1906–7 programme. As I have stated, they were not laid down until August, 1907, as the design was an entirely novel one, and they could not have been laid down on that design in the year 1906–7.