§ 16. Mr. CHARLES WHITEasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he can state the number of ships under construction at the time of the Armistice or for which contracts had been placed upon which operations were discontinued; and the dates on which work was stopped or the contracts cancelled.
§ Sir JAMES CRAIG (Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty)The information asked for by my hon. Friend is of too lengthy a nature to be given verbally, and I am, therefore, forwarding to him in writing the details for which he asks.
§ Sir J. CRAIGIf the hon. Member desires to have it circulated, certainly. My own idea was to economise by not publishing these very long lists.
§ The following are the details referred to:
§ The numbers of ships building or on order at the time of the Armistice, and which have been cancelled, are as follow, the dates of stoppage of work being as shown in each case:—
| Battle Cruisers | 3 | Oct., 1918. |
| Light Cruisers | 3 | Nov., 1918. |
| 1 | August, 1919. | |
| Flotilla Leaders | 3 | Nov., 1918. |
| 2 | March, 1919. | |
| Torpedo Boat Destroyers | 18 | Nov., 1918. |
| 15 | March, 1919. | |
| 7 | August, 1919. | |
| Submarines | 11 | Nov., 1918. |
| 17 | March, 1919. | |
| 5 | August, 1919. | |
| Minelayers | 2 | Nov., 1918. |
| Twin Screw Minesweepers | 39 | Dec., 1918 to Dec., 1919. |
| Paddle Minesweepers | 5 | Dec., 1918. |
| Patrol Gunboats | 31 | Nov., 1918. |
| *Trawlers | 215 | Dec., 1918. |
| *Drifters | 174 | Dec., 1918 to March,1919. |
| Boom Defence Vessels | 1 | Nov., 1918. |
| Tugs | 43 | Nov., 1918 to Jan., 1920. |
| "24" Class | 2 | Dec., 1918. |
| * Including 133 Trawlers and 104 Drifters on which work was stopped as regards fitting them as War Trawlers, these vessels being completed as ordinary fishing vessels so as to dispose of them to the best advantage. | ||
| † Including 25 on which work was stopped as regards completing them for the Navy, these vessels being completed for commercial use so as to dispose of them to the best advantage. |