§ 20 and 21. Mr. Burdenasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what is the estimated cost of fitting out Chatham Dockyard for the construction of nuclear submarines;
(2) what is the estimated cost of equipping, for the construction of nuclear submarines, a Royal Naval Dockyard at present possessing no facilities for conventional submarine construction.
§ Mr. J. P. W. MallalieuTo fit out Chatham to construct nuclear submarines would cost about £1½ million. The costs for other Naval Yards would be even greater. As I told the House on 27th April, our existing arrangements for constructing nuclear submarines are sufficient.