§ 26. Captain Litchfieldasked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty whether he will give details about the two replenishment tankers now under construction.
§ Mr. C. Ian Orr-EwingYes, Sir. These two ships, being built by Hawthorn Leslie, Hebburn-on-Tyne, will be of 13,100 tons gross and have a speed of 17 knots, the same as the existing "Tide" Class. They will, however. 389 have improvements including a helicopter platform and up-to-date replenishment arrangements. These ships reinforce our seaborne capability under the strategy outlined in this year's Defence White Paper.
§ Captain LitchfieldDoes not my hon. Friend feel that a speed of 17 knots is a little slow for modern ships accompanying a fleet?
§ Mr. Orr-EwingWe must balance the amount of money that we have with our desire for extra speed. However, we hope that future tankers will have a speed rather higher than 17 knots.