§ VISCOUNT SIDMOUTHMy Lords, I rise to ask Her Majesty's Government whether information can be supplied respecting the present condition and progress of the new works at Gibraltar dockyard and breakwater; and whether the proposed new docks at Malta and Hong Kong are in progress. I am sorry to have to trouble the noble Earl who represents the Admiralty in this House, and who, I am sure, we all congratulate on the very high position to which he has been appointed;* but I am obliged to do so owing to the Naval Estimates not being supplied to this House. The three docks at Gibraltar are, I understand, still under construction, and only one is capable of receiving a first-class ironclad. Since the zealous and able administration of the noble Earl opposite (Earl Spencer), we have been promised an additional dock at Malta, where there are at present four docks, but only one of which, I think, is capable of receiving the large vessels now built for the Navy. This is the only accommodation we have for the largely increased number of ships we are obliged to maintain in the Mediterranean. The breakwater is another question on which I desire information. It must be obvious to everyone of your Lordships that the dock accommodation for our squadrons ought to be very greatly increased, more especially when we look at the fact that a foreign nation has very large dock accommodation at three or four ports in the Mediterranean. It is necessary that we should have accommodation for the repair of our ships in case of emergency. The docks at Gibraltar not being ready, we should have to fall back upon the small accommodation which Malta provides. A promise was also made of a dock at Hong Kong. So far as I can ascertain there is only one dock there, and that is not capable of receiving vessels of the size we are now sending out to the East.
* It was announced on the 14th July that the Earl of Hopetoun had been appointed first Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia.
THE EARL OF HOPETOUNMy Lords, full information as to the progress made with these works up to the end of February of this year will be found in the First Lord's statement accompanying the Naval Estimates for 1900–1.* Since that time a further length of 1,000 feet of the detached mole at Gibraltar has been brought above water level. The dam for No. 3 Dock has been completed, and the enclosed area is being pumped out. The progress made with the works generally is satisfactory. It is not expected that a contract for the construction of the new docks at Malta will be let before November next, but in the meantime the clearing and levelling of the site is proceeding rapidly. At Hong Kong the main works are in process of construction, but the dock cannot be begun until further progress has been made with the reclamation.
§ EARL SPENCERMy Lords, though it is absolutely essential, in view of the increased number of ships kept in the Mediterranean, that there should be increased accommodation both at Malta and Gibraltar, it can hardly be expected that we should have at those places accommodation as good as that which the French have in the same waters, for your Lordships must remember that these are the home dockyards of France, which correspond to Plymouth and Portsmouth in this country. With regard to Hong Kong, everybody must admit, particularly in view of the lamentable circumstances which have recently occurred in China, the immense importance of keeping up a sufficient fleet in those seas. As to the works at Hong Kong, I confess that I was not altogether satisfied with the site taken for them, and I am still rather afraid that the site will not be sufficiently large to give all the accommodation that will be required in the near future. At the present moment, as I understand it, Her Majesty's Government are proposing to build another dock at Victoria Island on the Hong Kong side of the bay, and I would like to know from the noble Earl whether it is intended that it should accommodate the largest cruiser or battleship of the present day.
§ VISCOUNT SIDMOUTHThe noble Earl did not say when the works at Gibraltar were likely to be completed,
* See The Parliamentary Debates [Fourth Series], Vol. lxxix., Appendix.209 or when one of the docks was likely to be used.
THE EARL OF HOPETOUNI am afraid, with the knowledge which is at present at my disposal, that I cannot answer either of the questions which have been put to me.