§ LORD MUSKERRY rose to call the attention of His Majesty's Government to the position of the Royal Naval Reserves, and to the new restrictions in respect to drill regulations which are imposed upon officers of the Royal Naval Reserve; to ask whether His Majesty's Government have taken into regard the serious obstacles which are now placed in the way of officers' of the Royal Naval Reserve putting in the requisite drills, whereby the efficiency of this force may be seriously impaired and the supply of officers considerably reduced; whether His Majesty's Government will now consider the advisability of revising the drill regulations so that reasonable facilities may be provided for officers of merchant ships performing their drills as officers of the Royal Naval Reserve; and to move for Papers.
§ The noble Lord said: My Lords, according to the Navy Estimates we find that the anticipated total expenditure on the Royal Navy for the forthcoming year amounts to £44,392,500, being a net increase on the past year of £3,788,800. The steps which His Majesty's Government have taken in still further strengthening our Naval Service and the increased expenditure necessitated have met with opposition so small as not to be worthy of notice, and I am especially assured by the seafaring community of the country that more extensive provision for our maritime supremacy and safety on the high seas would have been received and welcomed with enthusiasm. But I do not propose to dwell upon the Government's arrangements regarding the Navy so much as to comment on the apathy they display in ensuring that that which is of quite equal importance—a thoroughly efficient and numerically strong Naval Reserve—shall be established and maintained as our first 299 reserve for the depletion or probable lack of supply of men for our ships of war whenever the time may arrive when we shall find it imperative to put them into action.
§ As I have mentioned, we are spending approximately forty-four and a half millions on the maintenance of our Navy. Our Royal Naval Reserves represent five different factors—first, the Royal Naval Reserve; second, the Royal Fleet Reserve; third, the Royal Naval Volunteers; fourth, the Reserve of Retired Officers; and, fifth, the Auxiliary Royal Naval Sick Berth Reserve. Upon the whole of these we are spending the comparatively small sum of, approximately, £388,000 per annum, and presumably the Government are satisfied that the requisite increased efficiency in these several forces will be met by the increase on the past year of £15,500, which, in a comparative sense, means no increase at all.
§ I am aware that it is a favourite argument with many who are connected, in one way or another, with the Royal Navy, that as a matter of fact there is no real need of the existence of any Naval Reserves whatever; in fact, during the late First Sea Lord's period of office it was commonly said that, provided he had his own way, he would have abolished the Royal Naval Reserve. If such an opinion is correct; then why in the name of logic do we throw away even the comparatively small sum of £388,000 when there is no necessity for doing so? But, my Lords, I hope that such a preposterous notion will not be entertained for one moment. Should it so happen that a naval vessel be sunk or captured in action, then, obviously, it means the loss of the services of a number of men; and there are many unforeseen emergencies in time of war where there is certain to be a considerable depletion of officers and men who may either be killed or set aside by wounds, injuries, or the overwhelming physical strain imposed upon them. Again, a naval action might be fought successfully and yet it would by no means follow that it would terminate the war. So far as I am able to judge I am considerably in doubt as to whether, even at present, the Royal Navy possesses its full numerical strength of men. But assuming that it does, it would soon require many more when once a naval war was waged by this country.
300§ In the ships of our mercantile marine we have an immense amount of splendid material which is quite unavailed of by the Government. In addition to keeping up the present Royal Naval Reserves it is imperative that steps should be taken in strengthening those forces in any and every possible way, and every effort should be centred in the direction of availing ourselves of the services of qualified British merchant shipmasters, officers, and men who, given the necessary facilities and encouragement, would be only too glad to loyally co-operate and give what services and assistance they could in adding to the stability of the naval position of the Empire. I would most certainly commend these proposals to the serious consideration of His Majesty's Government, for, otherwise, they will discover when too late what a terrible mistake has been made. In war time there would be no Reserves of any strength to draw upon in filling up the gaps, and no means of securing the ready services of a great number of men whose practical seafaring experience would be of the greatest value in the hour of peril to the nation.
§ Coming to the second part of my Question, I propose, in as few words as possible to bring before your Lordships the new regulations which have been adopted by the Admiralty in connection with the drills which must be performed by those officers of our merchant ships who hold commissions as officers in the Royal Naval Reserve. As no doubt you are aware, under the old system there were certain stationary naval ships, mostly of the old wooden type, at the different leading seaports, which were set apart for the purpose of drill ships for Royal Naval Reserve officers and men. For instance, there were such ships as the "President" in London, the "Eagle" in Liverpool, and other ships at Bristol, Dundee, and elsewhere. It was on these ships that the Royal Naval Reserve officers were able to put in their drills whenever the opportunity arose. But these ships were notoriously obsolete, though this was not of the greatest consequence, except for the fact that the appliances which were provided by the Admiralty for the purpose of training the officers and men were also hopelessly obsolete. And besides this the appointment of a naval officer to the command of these drill ships was invariably a sort of polite hint to him that, on the completion 301 of his term, the Admiralty would have no further use for his services on the Active List of the Royal Navy. Fully aware of this, the Admiralty themselves might have had the sense to know that under such circumstances an officer was not likely to throw that zeal and enthusiasm into a most important command which otherwise he would have done, so it is not surprising that in certain cases these commands have merely amounted to a sinecure, as is well known by only too many Royal Naval Reserve officers who have performed drills of late years. I cannot understand why the Admiralty have not followed the practice of the War Office, who transfer to positions of this kind in connection with the Territorial Forces young and ambitious officers who know that the results of their energy and specialised training in ensuring the efficiency of the men of the Auxiliary Forces with which they are connected will likely have considerable effect on their future promotion.
§ Returning to the new regulations, the position is that the old stationary ships have now been abolished, and officers of the Royal Naval Reserve must put in their drills on board ships in commission attached to the home Fleet. Looking at the matter in a superficial light it would appear that, so far as efficiency is to be considered, such a form of drill and training is immeasurably superior to drilling on obsolete vessels permanently stationed at one port or another. Personally speaking, even though a stationary vessel may herself be obsolete, I cannot see why training of the most excellent character cannot be provided on board of her—that is, if she is furnished with all the latest and most up-to-date naval equipment and appliances, and commanded by an officer on the Active List of the Royal Navy who is not about to retire, and whose further advancement rests largely on the efficiency of the material which he is able to turn out of such a ship. But even admitting what appears to be the opinion of the Admiralty, that, training in a ship attached to the Home Fleet is much more advantageous, still I contend that the new regulations are utterly mistaken and wrong. In matters of this kind it is not only the Navy itself which must be considered, but the special circumstances arising in the merchant service and the particular positions in which the officers of our merchant ships are placed. It is a very difficult matter indeed for these officers 302 temporarily to relinquish their positions, even for a few days, and though our ship-owners are expected to loyally and cordially co-operate in promoting the efficiency of the Royal Naval Reserve, and are actuated by the best desires—a spirit which, I am sorry to say, is getting less and less common—they are frequently unable to make arrangements to suit their officers.
§ Under the old system of stationary drill ships, particularly so when they were stationed in large seaports, such as London, or Liverpool, it was not such a very difficult matter, especially if things were done as systematically as is possible where ships are concerned, to arrange that officers should temporarily leave their ships to put in drills on the Royal Naval Reserve drill ship. Whilst there they were always within call of their owners, who, realising this, were able to grant officers permission or temporary leave to put in drills, when, as the position stands now, they certainly would not do so on the ground that their officers would be quite out of call. Then again the officers themselves have a natural reluctance to go away to put in drills when there is a possibility that they may at any moment he required for promotion in their company, or some arrangements may be made in their absence which may not admit of their returning, on completing their drills, to the positions they have occupied.
§ I am in possession of a statement signed by very nearly thirty commissioned officers of the Royal Naval Reserve, many of them holding the highest positions in the merchant service, and I am assured by the Imperial Merchant Service Guild and by others that it represents the views of practically the whole of the officers of the Royal Naval Reserve. This statement has been placed in my hands by the Guild, who, naturally, have a strong interest in this great question, and I think the Admiralty would be exercising a very wise discretion were they to consult with the Guild before deciding upon important changes in connection with the Royal Naval Reserve, which is, of course, confined to merchant service officers and men. These officers of the Royal Naval Reserve, in their statement, comment upon what they term the "extreme difficulties" they have to contend with in order to perform the annual or biennial drills under the new system of drill—i.e., that of drilling on a sea-going ship attached to the nearest naval depôt. 303 In the case for instance of Liverpool, the nearest depôt would be Chatham, which is a place very far removed from our great northern seaport. These officers urge that owing to the circumstances of their employment it is absolutely impossible for the majority of them to find an opportunity to do twenty-eight consecutive days' drill at any time, whilst only on rare occasions can they obtain sufficient leave of absence from their employers in order to drill the minimum period, which is fourteen days. They point out, very properly I think, that this cannot tend to efficiency. They also wish to point out that, although they are allowed travelling expenses and messing allowance, there are many incidental expenses which make the new system much more expensive than the old, when with few exceptions they lived at home and performed their drills during the day, between the hours of 9.30 a.m. and 3.20 p.m. They suggest that the Admiralty should provide officers of the Royal Naval Reserve with seagoing drill ships to be stationed in the vicinity of certain of our large seaports, the officers drilling to be allowed the option of living either aboard or ashore out of drill hours. Such an arrangement, they believe, would tend to raise the standard of efficiency in the Royal Naval Reserve and would certainly enable many more officers to perform their drills regularly.
§ Some years ago, after being for a long time in a moribund state, the Royal Naval Reserve became "all the rage" in the merchant service, and many of the leading shipping firms took pride in their officers being also officers of the Royal Naval Reserve. Nowadays it is far different. Our shipowners have no real encouragement from the Admiralty; they have experienced the greatest difficulty in enabling their officers to put in their drills and their service in the Navy; and, as matters stand at present, the letters "R. N. R." count for nothing like what they did in years gone by. This is not only unfortunate, but a very unhealthy sign. There seems to be nobody at the Admiralty who will make a speciality of the importance of our Naval Reserves, and who will initiate a firm and vigorous policy which will, once and for all, eradicate what at present constitutes a grave national weakness. I would certainly urge that under the new régime at the Admiralty some immediate alterations should be decided upon in respect to the present Naval Reserve drill regulations, 304 and I move that His Majesty's Government lay on the Table what Papers are at their disposal containing the reason or reasons for instituting such great changes when they are so very injurious to our national interests.
§ Moved, That there be laid before the House Papers relating to the position of the Royal Naval Reserve, and to the new restrictions in respect to drill regulations which are imposed upon officers of the Royal Naval Reserve.—(Lord Muskerry.)
§ LORD INVERCLYDEMy Lords, with a great deal of what the noble Lord has said I agree, but on one point I cannot follow him, and that is with regard to drill for officers of the Royal Naval Reserve. We in the mercantile marine value very highly indeed any opportunity we get for employing officers and men who have been in the Royal Naval Reserve. Our feeling is that these men, by going to sea and serving in fleets along with officers of His Majesty's Navy, are very much improved in the way of discipline and smartness. Unfortunately, in the merchant service we have not much legal power in regard to discipline, and on that point alone I do not agree with the noble Lord in regard to drill. But on the whole subject I say with him that we in the merchant service would be only too pleased if we could get more Naval Reserve men to employ than at present. The company with which I am connected are searching now for officers in the Royal Naval Reserve, and we will employ any young officer in the Naval Reserve whom we can get; and if His Majesty's Government could see their way to increase the number of officers in the Royal Naval Reserve it would be very greatly appreciated in the merchant service.
§ THE EARL OF GRANARDMy Lords, the noble Lord who has brought this subject to your Lordships' notice this afternoon has dealt very severely with the policy of the Admiralty. In fact, he told us that one First Lord went the length of wishing to abolish the Royal Naval Reserve altogether.
§ THE EARL OF GRANARDI can only say that I can imagine nothing further from the wish of any First Lord, for there can be no doubt that the Admiralty fully 305 realise the great advantage of this Reserve. It is possessed of splendid material, and the men are a valuable adjunct to our naval strength. The noble Lord took strong exception to the new regulations which the Admiralty have seen fit to issue with regard to the training of these officers. As the noble Lord pointed out, in the past these drills were carried out in obsolete ships and on what were called Royal Naval Reserve batteries. It can hardly be contended that the training on these batteries and on obsolete ships, even with the most modern appliances, can be in any way comparable to the training which is now given to Royal Naval Reserve officers on board sea-going ships of one of the divisions of the Home Fleet; and I contend that the new regulations are not more onerous and difficult for intending Royal Naval Reserve officers. For under the new regulations what do we ask these officers to do? We ask them during their first three years of service to do twenty-eight days in a sea-going ship.
§ THE EARL OF GRANARDYes, each year during the first three years. But if they are able to get a test certificate before that time we only ask them to comply with the second condition, which is that they should do fourteen days every alternate year; and I may say, in passing, from information given to me by the Admiral commanding the Coast Guards, that this period of fourteen days is further reduced when any officer gives good and sufficient reasons for not being able to do the whole fourteen days. In those conditions we only ask them to do seven days, provided that during that period they requalify for the test certificate. I do not think it can be denied that the training given to the officers now is much superior to that given in old days.
It is all very well for the noble Lord to say that officers living ashore should do their drills on obsolete battleships lying up in harbours, but what the Admiralty want is thorough efficiency. They want an officer of the Royal Naval Reserve to be able, in case of war, to take his place with the Regular officers of the Royal Navy, and I do not think that that condition of efficiency could be arrived at unless those officers were thoroughly trained in the general routine of a man-of-war. For these reasons the Admiralty do not see their way to modify in 306 any way the regulations which they have made. I may say, on the question of officers, that I have been in communication with the Admiral commanding on this point and he tells me that there is no shortage of officers of the Royal Naval Reserve in consequence of the new drill arrangements; in fact, the Admiralty can get as many candidates for commissions as officers in the Royal Naval Reserve as they want. One great advantage of the new scheme of drill is that the Regular naval officers have been able to gauge the efficiency of each Reserve officer on board ship; and the Admiral commanding tells me that the efficiency as a whole has been uniformly satisfactory, and that under the old system it was quite impossible to arrive at this goal.
As to the remarks which were made by Lord Inverclyde, the Admiralty recognise that all the great companies, such as the company with which the noble Lord is connected, have done everything in their power to foster this scheme of Naval Reserve officers, and I am sure it would be the wish of the Admiralty that I should return their grateful thanks to the shipowners for their efforts to make the Royal Naval Reserve the success it is to-day.
LORD ELLENBOROUGHMy Lords, it is quite clear that the conditions with regard to the training of the Royal Naval Reserve officer are somewhat harder now than they used to be, but the new conditions tend to greater efficiency. Formerly these Reserve officers had no opportunity of acquiring knowledge of the internal economy of a warship. It is, of course, desirable that they should, when called upon in case of emergency, be able to step on board ship, take command of men, and be useful at once. This, again, is not possible unless they have become acquainted with the internal economy of a ship and the manner in which duties are performed, and that cannot be obtained without a residence for some days on board a sea-going ship. I am glad to hear from the noble Earl that the number of Naval Reserve officers is not being reduced. I am afraid the harder conditions will tend to reduce them, but I hope the Admiralty will be able to deal in a spirit of liberality with the question of the additional expense to which these officers are put. I am informed that there are a number of incidental expenses not included in their travelling or messing allowances. 307 I therefore hope the Admiralty will be able to deal liberally in these matters with the officers whose duties they have now made more difficult.
LORD MUSKERRYMy Lords, no one will dispute for a moment that the best training for these officers is on board sea-going ships; but the question is, Can you get the men there? The noble Earl tells me the men can be got, so that is satisfactory. In the circumstances I withdraw my Motion for Papers.
§ Motion, by leave, withdrawn.