§ 84. Mr. HOHLERasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that, under the existing Regulations, the practice of the Admiralty is such that an engineer-lieutenant promoted from the chief artificer engineers can rarely, if ever, qualify for the senior list; whether he is aware that engineer-lieutenants promoted from the chief artificer engineers have passed nearly the whole of their career as watch-keeping officers afloat, and on attaining the rank of engineer-lieutenant are almost invariably employed on shore; and will he consider the desirability of modifying the Admiralty Regulations by omitting, in the case of those promoted from the chief artificer engineers, the requirement as to three years as watch-keeper on a sea-going ship and thus enable them to qualify for the senior list and the advantages it carries?
Mr. LAMBERTThe answer to the first three parts of the question is in the affirmative. It is proposed to consider the question of waiving the sea-service qualification in the case of these officers as one of the conditions of advancement to the rank of engineer-lieutenant commander.