Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Your telegram of28th October [1]: Matter has now been fully
examined with the First Lord of the Admiralty [2] and the Board of
the Admiralty.
Admiralty's attitude with regard to a capital ship for the Royal
Australian Navy is the same as when the matter was discussed with
Page and Menzies. [3] Difficulty is the method of provision.
The present number of capital ships in the Royal Navy is small and
a proportion are undergoing refitting. In these circumstances and
as a result of discussions I do not see any prospect of the
transference of a capital ship from the Royal Navy to the Royal
Australian Navy in the near future or at any date much in advance
of the deliverance of a new ship.
With regard to the suggestion re Singapore, for the same reasons
do not think that an arrangement to operate in the near future
could be arrived at.