§ 8. Mr. Liptonasked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty how many ships there are in the operational fleet; and how many admirals are employed in the Admiralty and elsewhere.
§ Mr. C. Ian Orr-EwingI would refer the hon. Member to page 6 of my noble Friend's Explanatory Statement on the Navy Estimates 1959–60 as regards particulars of ships in the operational fleet. As to numbers of flag officers, 29 are employed in the Admiralty and 58 elsewhere.
§ Mr. LiptonIf the hon. Member will look at the statement to which he has referred he will see that it works out at about one admiral per ship in the Navy, which is rather ridiculous, is it not?
§ Mr. Orr-EwingThe hon. Member is not very accurate in his counting. There are 138 ships in the operational fleet, and if we include ships on trials and training and in support, there is a further 97. I am afraid that those figures, added together, exceed 200, so that the figure works out at very much less than one admiral per ship.