§ Mr. BELLAIRSasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that, in addition to the "Tsingtau," "Vaterland," and "Vorwärts," Germany is about to send a fourth river gunboat, the "Otter," to the River Yang-tse-Kiang; whether he can state the dates of launch of these vessels and their armaments; what are the names of the British river gunboats on this river; and what are the dates of launch and the armaments of these vessels?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The details of the vessels are as follows:—
Date of Launch. Armament. "Vorwærts".. 1899 2 5-cm. Q.F., 2 8-mm. machine guns. "Tsingtau" 1903 1 8.8-cm. Q.F., 1 5-cm. Q.F., 3 8-mm. machine guns. "Vaterland" "Otter" 1909 1 8.8-cm. Q.F., 1 5-cm. Q.F. The British gunboats permanently employed on the Yangtse are:—
Date of Launch. Armament. "Thistle" 1899 24-in.Q.F,412-pr. 8-cwt. Q.F., 6 .45-in. maxim. "Kinsha" Purchased in 1900 2 12-pr. 8-cwt. Q.F., 8 .303-in, maxims. "Nightingale" 1897 2 6-pr. Q.F., 4 .303-in. maxims. "Snipe" 1898 2 6-pr. Q.F., 4 .303-in. maxims. "Teal" 1901 2 6-pr. Q.F., 4 .303-in. maxims. "Widgeon" 1904 2 6-pr. Q.F., 4 .303-in. maxims. "Woodcock" 1898 2 6-pr. Q.F., 4 .45-in. maxims. "Woodlark" 1898 2 6-pr. Q.F., 4 .45-in. maxims. The gunboats "Bramble" and "Britomart" also cruise occasionally on the Yangtse.