67. Dr. Bennettasked the First Lord of the Admiralty what arrangements he is making for the mooring, accommodation and maintenance of newly-built minesweepers and other small craft.
§ Mr. J. P. L. ThomasI presume that my hon. Friend is referring only to those craft for which some special or new method of maintenance is proposed. Fleet minesweepers will continue to be treated under the arrangements made for minor war vessels, but small inshore craft will be accepted from the builders and preserved under a new form of organisation which is being set up as an adjunct to the command of the Flag Officer Commanding Reserve Fleet. This will centre on two small craft commissioning bases, one at H.M.S. "Hornet," the Coastal 37W Forces Base at Gosport, and the other at the British Overseas Airways Corporation's former Flying Boat Base at Hythe; the latter commissioned yesterday as H.M.S. "Diligence."