Sir James Craig, speaking on the Navy Estimates in the
House of Commons on Thursday, March 17th, said that the Admiralty would close the Haulbowline Dockyard in 1921-22 and the Pembroke Dockyard in 1922-23. There would be an ultimate saving of 000,000 a year on Haulbowline ; it was hoped that private shipbuilders would take over the Pembroke yard. The Admiralty, like the naval authorities of America and Japan, believed in the capital ship as the unit, on which sea power was built. It was proposed to lay down four battleships in the coming financial year ; they would be improved ' Hoods ' and could conform to the lessons of the late war. A submarine and a minelayer would also be built. Mr. Asquith agreed that the capital ship was still essential. He deprecated, however, " the curse of talk about competitive shipbuilding." Great Britain and America might well agree upon a reasonable reduc- tion of naval armaments. Sir Edward Carson pointed out that in 1925 America would have 18 and Japan 11 post-Jutland battleships, while we should have-five. " If we were going to be satisfied to be the second naval Power in the world, the Govern- ment should tell the people and tell the Empire."
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