78. Lieut.-Colonel DALRYMPLEWHITEasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Shipping Controller what tonnage of new ships has been laid down and completed between 1st January and 1st May, 1919, and what was the total tonnage of British shipping available for service afloat on 1st May, 1919, as compared with the same tonnage on 1st May, 1917?
The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the MINISTRY OF SHIPPING (Colonel Wilson)Mercantile steam tonnage completed in the United Kingdom between 1st January and 1st May, 1919, amounted to 328,251 tons gross. Full particulars of tonnage laid down during this period are not available, but approximately 450,000 tons gross were laid down during the three months January to March, 1919.
British mercantile steam tonnage of 500 gross tonnage and over at 1st May, 1919, amounted to 15,750,000 gross tonnage, of which approximately 1,500,000 was undergoing repair. The corresponding figure at 1st May, 1917, was 16,650,000 gross tonnage, of which 300,000 was repairing.