§ LORD SYDENHAMMy Lords, I desire to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty when the track charts illustrating the Battle of Jutland, which it was stated on March 8 last would be "revised and issued under the authority of the Board of Admiralty," after the "observations" of Lord Jellicoe bad been obtained, will be made available for the information of Parliament.
THE DUKE OF SUTHERLANDMy Lords, my noble friend the First Lord of the Admiralty has asked me to answer this question in his absence. Since the statement made by Lord Lee of Fareham last year regarding the track charts of the Battle of Jutland, much information has been received from German and other sources which has rendered necessary a revision of the charts. The charts originally prepared consisted of nine charts showing tracks and nine charts showing the general position at particular times. As a result of the further information, and in order to elucidate the course of the action more fully, the scope of the work has been considerably extended. The revised charts, showing the positions of vessels at various stages of the action, will be about fifty in number, and will be accompanied by a detailed narrative without which they cannot be fully understood. The preparation of the material on this more complete scale has taken longer than anticipated, but the plans and narrative are on the point of completion, and will be despatched for Lord Jellicoe's remarks within the next two weeks. On return from Lord Jellicoe the complete book will be ready for publication, and I hope it will be in the hands of the public towards the end of the summer.