§ Mr. DENNISONasked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he can give particulars of the foreign steel sections used in connection with certain work now being carried out on His Majesty's Ship "Vindictive," at Chatham Dockyard; whether British steel manufacturers were asked to supply the material; and can he give an assurance, having regard to the depressed state of the steel and iron industry, that during the life of the Government only British steel will be used in His Majesty's dockyards?
Mr. DAVIDSONI can assure the hon. Member that we use only British steel in work executed for the Admiralty whether by contractors or in the dockyards. As the hon. Member was informed on the 23rd July by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Air, the steel sections were required for some special work carried out by the Admiralty on behalf of the Air Ministry. I will circulate particulars of the section sizes in the OFFICIAL REPORT, but I may say that Carnegie section 6teel was considered essential by the Air Ministry 'because of its high tensile capacity, special design of flange and web and lighter weight than possible alternatives. The answer to the second part of the question is in the negative.
The particulars are as follow:
The steel was of Carnegie section channels of following sizes:
- 6 in. by 1.92 in. weighing 8 lbs. per foot.
- 9 in. by 2.43 in. weighing 13.25 lbs. per foot.
- 12 in. by 2.94 in. weighing 20.50 lbs. per foot.
- 15 in. by 3.40 in. weighing 33 lbs. per foot.