§ 37. Mr. KINGasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the Government received four years ago from a group of Continental engineers plans and designs for a new type of naval destroyer, faster than any existing battleship, armed with a single gun of maximum power to fire a projectile playing the part of an aerial torpedo, and presenting to the enemy's fire only a bow-shield of such shape and thickness as to be impenetrable; whether such plans were considered and rejected; whether it is known that a foreign Power accepted them and has now completely modified its naval policy owing to the value of this new type of naval destroyer, which is claimed as rendering the building of "Dreadnoughts" futile; and, if so, will he say how the Government intend to meet the situation?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThere is no record of any such proposal having been received at the Admiralty. There is no evidence that any foreign nation has modified its naval policy on account of the adoption of a vessel of the type referred to. So far as 840 this country is concerned, there is no change in the situation calling for a reconsideration of naval policy.