§ Mr. SANDYSasked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he will furnish a Report of the movements of His Majesty's ship "Enchantress" from 1st December, 1912, to the present date, showing in order and with dates the ports which this vessel has visited during that period; if he will state the number of miles which the ship has travelled since that date and the number of tons of coal consumed, and what has been the cost of the coal; and if he will state the numbers of officers and men, respectively, serving on the vessel, and what expenditure has been incurred in connection with the movements of the vessel since 1st December, 1912?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLFor the sake of completeness the answer has been made to cover the whole period since the present First Lord took office. Since 31st October, 1911, the "Enchantress" has covered 19,705 miles and consumed 4,900 tons of coal. This includes two visits to the Mediterranean for the official inspection of the naval establishments at Malta (1912 and 1913), and Gibraltar (1912). The list of ports visited is attached. Since 31st October, 1911, the First Lord has spent 182 days afloat, and in addition to the Mediterranean cruises has visited nearly every port in the British Isles that is either a naval port or naval base or is connected with naval interests (i.e., private docks, private shipbuilding yards, etc.). With a few exceptions every naval establishment in the British Isles and the Mediterranean has been inspected by the First Lord, with or without other members of the Board. Apart from the regular Board inspections of naval bases, all of which have been carried out, the First Lord has during this time personally visited or inspected between sixty and seventy battleships and cruisers—many of them on several occasions—besides ninny visits to the destroyer and submarine flotillas, and has been present at day and night exercises of the Fleet on between thirty and forty occasions. The complement of the "Enchantress" is ten officers and 186 men, all of whom are required for the needs of the War Fleet, and either hold war appointments or are told off to ships of the War Fleet. As to the question of cost, there is nothing to add to the replies that have been given from time to time in this House beyond saying that the 1237W cost of entertaining unofficial guests is borne by the First Lord, in accordance with long-established precedent, and that no part of it falls upon public funds. The original cost of the "Enchantress," which was built by Lord Selborne's direction in 1903 and completed in 1904, was £131,000. The depreciation upon this capital sum is computed at £6,500 a year, and would continue whether the vessel were employed or not.
LIST of all Ports visited by His Majesty's ship "Enchantress" since the present First Lord of the Admiralty came into Office.
1238W
Date ate of Arrival. Place. Date of Departure. 1911. 1911. Portsmouth 31 October 31 October Devonport 3 November 4 November Portsmouth 4 November 4 November Spithead 5 November 5 November Cowes 6 November 6 November Portsmouth 12 November 12 November Portland 13 November 13 November Portsmouth 16 November 17 November Devonport 20 November 21 November Portsmouth 14 Jan., 1912 1912. 1912. 15 January Chatham 19 January 20 January Portsmouth 17 February 17 February. Portland 19 February 20 February Portsmouth 23 March 23 March Portland 27 March 27 March Portsmouth 4 April 4 April Port land 7 April 7 April Torbay 8 April 8 April Devonport 9 April 9 April Portsmouth 20 April 20 April Dover 22 April 22 April Portsmouth 6 May 6 May Portland 13 May 16 May Gibraltar 18 May 21 May Genoa 22 May 23 May Elba 23 May 24 May Naples 26 May 26 May Agropoli 26 May 27 May Syracuse 28 May 29 May Malta 1 June 2 June Bizerta 3 June 6 June Gibraltar 6 June 10 November Portsmouth 29 June 30 June Penzance 30 June 1 July Queenstown 3 July 3 July Pembroke 3 July 4 July Portsmouth 7 July 8 July Portland 8 July 9 July Portsmouth 23 July 23 July Portland 24 July 24 July Torquay 25 July 25 July Portland 26 July 26 July Portsmouth 27 July 27 July Cowes 31 July 31 July Netley 2 August 2 August Portsmouth 5 August 5 August Cowes & Spithead 5 August 5 August Portsmouth 16 August 17 August Chatham 21 August 21 August Sheerness 22 August
Date of Arrival. Place. Date of Departure. 22 August Harwich 23 August 23 August Yarmouth Roads 24 August 24 August Cromer 24 August 25 August Immingham 26 August 26 August Grimsby 27 August 28 August River Tyne 28 August 29 August South Queensferry 30 August 30 August Granton 30 August 30 August Dundee 31 August 1 Septemb'r Cromarty 5 Septemb'r 5 Septemb'r Aberdeen 5 Septemb'r 6 Septemb'r Invergordon 9 Septemb'r 10 Septemb'r Greenock 14 Septemb'r 14 Septemb'r Loch Long 14 Septemb'r 14 Septemb'r Lamlash 17 Septemb'r 17 Septemb'r Colonsay 20 Septemb'r 21 Septemb'r Oban 23 Septemb'r 23 Septemb'r Donna B.Mull 23 Septemb'r 24 Septemb'r Greenock 24 Septemb'r 25 August Barrow-in-Furness 26 Septemb'r 27 Septemb'r Birkenhead 27 Septemb'r 28 Septemb'r Holyhead 29 Septemb'r 30 Septemb'r Devonport 1 October 1 October Dartmouth 1 Ocobter 2 Ocotber Portsmouth 23 October 24 October Plymouth 24 October 24 October Portland 27 Ocotber 27 October Portsmouth 16 November 17 November Portland 17 November 18 November Portsmouth 1 December 1 December Portland 3 December 4 December Portsmouth 27 Jan., 1913 1913. 1913. 27 January Dover 27 January 28 December Firth of Forth 29 January 29 January Dundee 31 January 1 February. South Queensferry 1 February 3 February Chatham 3 February 4 february Portsmouth 15March 15 March Hamble River 15 March 15 March Spithead 16 March. 16 March Portsmouth 2 April 3 April Devonport 4 April 5 April Portsmouth 6 April 7 April Chatham 9 April 10 April Portsmouth 24 April 27 April Gibraltar 1 May 4 May Malta 7 May 9 May Venice 11 May 12 May Spalato 12May 13May Ragusa 14 May 14 May Cattaro 14 May 15 May Valona Bay 16 May 16 May Corfu 16 May 17 May Corinth 18 May 18 May Piræus 18 May 19 May Argostoli 19 May 20 May Taormina 20 May 20 May Syracuse 22 May 22 May Malta 25 May 25 May Girghent 25 May 26 May Palermo 27 May 28 May Aranci Bay 29 May 29 May Ajaccio 29 May 30 May Hyeres 30 May 30 May Marseilles 30 May 1 June Gibraltar 4 June 8 June Portsmouth