Genre:

Essay

Subjects:

Military Technology, Education, Human Development, Crime

    Begins by presenting Admiral Punch's question to the Admiralty board concerning the use 'of keeping afloat a lot of obsolete old hulks at some half-dozen of our dockyards'. Notes that Admiral Punch thinks 'thousands of pounds yearly' would be saved by destroying them, and also suggests that a better use would be as 'Homes for Homeless Children'. Explains that Admiral Punch has reached this conclusion after inspecting the decommissioned HMS Chicester, a ship kept afloat 'by voluntary charity' and which shows how financing floating schools can reduce the number of children who turn to crime, and thus reduce the costs of prisons.