§ Mr. BOTTOMLEYasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that the Thames Ironworks Company, in order to complete the construction of the "Dreadnought" for which a contract has been placed with it, has found it necessary to order a special floating crane, and that such order has been placed in Germany, notwithstanding that a British firm of standing and experience had tendered for it; and, seeing that its erection will be largely contemporaneous with that of the "Dreadnought," and will involve the 946 employment of Germans with access to the building yard during the construction of the battleship, what steps he proposes to take to safeguard British interests.
§ Mr. McKENNAThe Admiralty have no power in the matter of the purchase by shipbuilding firms of their plant, and have no knowledge whether the firm in question is obtaining alternative tenders for the floating crane from Germany and from British firms. The contract contains a clause securing all necessary secrecy.
§ Mr. BOTTOMLEYMay I ask the right hon. Gentlemen did he read the whole of my question, which is: "Whether or not the Thames Iron Works Company had actually placed an order in Germany for a special floating crane, and whether or not its erection will be largely contemporaneous with that of the 'Dreadnought,' and will involve the employment of German workmen and supervisors and allow them to come into the shipbuilding yard?"
§ Mr. McKENNAMy hon. Friend supposes the "Dreadnought" is now under construction in this yard. He is in error. We have no knowledge at the Admiralty— and I have made inquiries on the point— we have no knowledge whether the crane in question has been ordered from a British or foreign firm, but should it have been, ordered from a German firm—a fact which I do not know—every precaution will be taken to ensure secrecy, and, as a matter of fact, there is a clause in the contract which absolutely secures secrecy.
§ Mr. BOTTOMLEYI am sorry to press the right hon. Gentleman, but what I want to ask is this. Accepting, as he will for the moment from me the statement that the crane has been ordered from a German firm, and that German workmen will supervise its erection contemporaneously with the commencement of the "Dreadnought" in the shipbuilding yard, is it not a fact, then, that the work and conditions are such, that these workmen may take the fullest information of the details of the construction of the "Dreadnought"?
§ Mr. McKENNAMy hon. Friend has overlooked the fact that the crane in question is part of the plant for building the "Dreadnought," and it will have, therefore, to be completely erected before the "Dreadnought" is advanced any distance at all in its construction. No German workmen can be admitted to the dockyard at a time when anything secret is being done.
§ Mr. BOTTOMLEYIs it not a fact that the contract placed with this German firm provides that the German firm shall by its own workmen and supervisors erect the crane when it arrives in this country in parts in the shipbuilding yard in a certain position which is in communication with the yard in which the "Dreadnought" is being built contemporaneously?
§ Mr. McKENNAAssuming the statement made by my hon. Friend to be accurate that this crane has been ordered from a German firm, the crane will have to be erected before the "Dreadnought" is built. The crane is for the purpose of building the "Dreadnought."
§ Mr. BONAR LAWAre we to understand that the right hon. Gentleman says distinctly that the "Dreadnought" will be laid down upon its slip only when the crane is completed?
§ Mr. McKENNAOh, no, Sir, I said nothing of the sort. There is no secrecy about a slip or the laying of the keel upon a slip. As the hon. Gentleman knows very well, such secrecy as there may be in the construction of a ship only arises at a far later stage.
§ Mr. BONAR LAWNo.
§ Mr. McKENNAThen the right hon. Gentleman does not know. There is no secrecy in the keel of a "Dreadnought."
§ Sir FORTESCUE FLANNERYDocs the right hon. Gentleman not know that in erecting a ship the frames and other parts which will be handled by this crane disclose the whole of the design?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe frame and other parts handled by the crane can only be handled when the crane is erected. The crane having been erected, the German workman, if they are there—I have no knowledge, but assuming that German workmen will be employed there—they will have disappeared before the ship is built.
§ Sir FORTESCUE FLANNERYWill not the parts be there alongside the slip before the keel is laid.
§ Mr. McKENNANo German erecting a crane nor anyone else can in the least discover the design of a ship from the parts of a ship laid one over the other.