§ Captain Kerbyasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty if he will take steps to ensure that the guided-weapon super-destroyer type vessels projected for Venezuela by Messrs. Vickers will be available to the Royal Navy, in an emergency, until such time as they are actually delivered to that Republic.
§ Mr. AllanNo contracts for vessels of the type indicated have ben placed with British shipbuilders for delivery to Venezuela.
§ Captain Kerbyasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty, in view of the fact that we have disposed of some 175 warships since October, 1956, on grounds of their obsolescence, and that several of these ships have been transferred to our allies, if he will make a statement on the policy of Her Majesty's Government in transferring ships to other Powers.
§ Mr. AllanDisregarding small craft, harbour craft and the like, 16 warships have been disposed of to other Governments and 44 have been scrapped since October, 1956. When a warship becomes surplus to the requirements of the Royal208W Navy, her potential value to Commonwealth, Allied and other friendly navies is immediately examined to see whether their requirements could be matched by the ships available. Transfer terms are settled on the merits of the particular case. No ship is scrapped until the Board of Admiralty is satisfied that she cannot be disposed of to better advantage.