ious experience had lain,
I believe, largely in the railway world; some of his assistants and
staff were, however, men with experience of shipbuilding.

When I became First Sea Lord at the end of 1916 the new building
programme, which had received the sanction of the Cabinet, was as
follows:

8 Flotilla leaders. 500 Trawlers.
65 T.B.D.'s. 60 Submarines.
34 Sloops. 4 Seaplane carriers.
48 Screw minesweepers. 60 Boom defence vessels.
16 Paddle "

During the early part of 1917 it was decided to substitute 56 screw
minesweepers and 8 paddle sweepers for the approved programme of this
class of vessel and to add another 50 screw minesweepers to meet the
growing mine menace, as well as to substitute 115 drifters for 50 of the
trawlers, and to request the Canadian Government to build 36 trawlers
and 100 drifters mainly for use in Canadian waters. It was also decided
to lay down 36 mercantile decoy ships and 12 tugs, and to build 56 motor
skimmers on the lines of the coastal motor boats, which were then
showing their value off the Belgian coast. The programme therefore, in
May, 1917, was as follows:

Flotilla leaders 8
T.B.D.'s 65
Patrol boats 6
Sloops 34
Minesweepers (screw) 56
" (paddle) 8
Additional twin-screw minesweepers 50
Submarines 60
Trawlers 450
Drifters 115
Canadian trawlers 36
" drifters 100
Boom defence vessels 60
Mercantile decoy ships 36
Seaplane carriers 4
Tugs 12
Motor skimmers 56

Meanwhile intelligence had been received which indicated that Germany
was building such a considerable number of light cruisers as to
jeopardize our supremacy in this class of vessel, and it was decided by
the Board that we ought to build eight more light cruisers even at the
cost of appropriating the steel intended for the construction of six
merchant ships.

Further, the German submarine programme was developing with great
rapidity, and our own submarines of the "L" class were taking a very
long time to build. It was therefore proposed to substitute eighteen
a