§ Captain Kerbyasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty why, since 1948, the Royal Navy has only commissioned one new ocean-going armed submarine, H.M.S. "Porpoise"; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. R. AllanAt the end of the Second World War there was a large surplus of submarines, many of them with a long remaining life, and all capable of being modernised at far less than the cost of comparable new construction. These have met our submarine requirements until now and have enabled us to time the start of our new construction programme in order to take full advantage of the rapid developments in submarine design since the war. The Porpoise Class has been designed as a result of these developments and submarines of this class are now coming into Service as the older submarines approach the end of their useful lives.