In the debate on the Navy Estimates, in the House
of Commons on Friday, March 24th, Mr. Amery stated that, while our Navy now included 118,500 officers, men and boys, the numbers in the American Navy were to be reduced from 139,000 to 115,000 and in the Japanese Navy from 82,000 to 80,000. He reminded the House that the use of oil fuel enabled the number of stokers to be greatly reduced, though on the other hand the skilled staff had to be fully maintained because so many new inventions had been adopted. Rear-Admiral Sueter rebuked the Admiralty for proposing to build two new battle- ships, but Mr. Amery explained that we now had only one post- Jutland ship while America had three and Japan two. Commander Kenworthy, in his zeal for economy, demanded the abolition of the Jamaica dockyard. Mr. Amery pointed out, in reply, that the dockyard had been given up in 1904.
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