§ 4. Captain MOSSasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he can give any information as to the engagement of crews for ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Service, both as regards the ships actually owned by the Admiralty and those under charter to the Admiralty from private shipowners; whether he is aware that some of these ships, such, for instance, as the "War Sirdar," have Chinese crews; and whether, having regard to the unemployment among British seamen in this country, he will direct that British-born white seamen shall always have the preference when crews are being engaged for these ships?
The FIRST LORD of the ADMIRALTY (Sir Bolton Eyres Monsell)The Royal Fleet Auxiliary, none of which is under charter from a private shipowner, are manned, with the following exceptions, by crews engaged in the United Kingdom. Vessels permanently attached to fleets on stations abroad are manned by local crews, and, in view of the climatic conditions, a few large oilers, including the "War Sirdar" recently in England for repairs, which are principally employed in the Far East, are manned by Chinese crews engaged at the port of Singapore. The standing instructions to masters provide that local crews are to be British subjects. In the case of Chinese ratings, it is not possible for this rule to be invariably observed, but otherwise none but British subjects are engaged. Other things being equal, preference has been, and will be, given to British-born white seamen.