§ Mr. Donnerasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what proportion, and the actual number, of the men in the Royal Navy are employed in ships in full commission, as compared with 1938.
Mr. DugdaleThe balance of the Royal Navy is today different from what it was before the war. We now have a very large Reserve Fleet, which did not exist then, and we also have large shore commitments for naval aviation. As a result, the proportion of men now serving in ships in commission is smaller than before 371W the war. It amounts, in fact, to 39 per per cent. of the total male strength or some 54,000 officers and men, compared with 57 per cent. or some 68,000 in 1938