§ Mr. BELLAIRSasked the First Lord of the Admiralty how many battleships, armoured cruisers, and other cruisers respectively, have been ordered for sale since 1st January, 1902; how many of each class not included in the above figures have been set aside as special service vessels with skeleton crews on board or are about to be so set aside; and whether it is intended to give the six battleships of the "Ocean" class only skeleton crews?
§ Mr. McKENNAWith regard to the first part of this question, the following numbers of battleships, armoured cruisers, and other cruisers respectively have been ordered for sale since 1st January, 1902, namely:—
Battleships … … 19 Armoured cruisers … … 10 Other cruisers … … 45 Total … … 74 As regards the rest of the question, 13 battleships, including three of the "Ocean" class, no armoured cruisers, 16 other cruisers are at present in commission with reduced nucleus crews. One battleship of the "Ocean" class is also in commission with a special reduced complement as a gunnery tender.