Lord Muskerry asked the First Lord of the Admiralty in the House of Lords if the Department would consider the case of engine-room artificers in torpedo boat depots not being allowed to count sea time, while those in torpedo boats who live on shore and very rarely went to sea were allowed to count sea time. The Earl of Selborne said the time referred to appeared to be that necessary for engine-room artificers before they are eligible for advancement to chief engine-room artificer. The regulations required five years actually afloat. The term afloat had been laid down as service in a commissioned sea-going vessel, and had been extended to service in torpedo boats and torpedo boat destroyers which were employed for instructional purposes, as these afforded many opportunities for obtaining experience in working on marine engines. Service in torpedo depots could not be considered in any sense as service afloat, as it did not afford the experience required.