341.115 St 2/37a
The Acting Secretary of State to President Wilson
Dear Mr. President: The capture by a British cruiser of the Standard Oil tank steamer Brindilla,9 which has arrived at Halifax under a prize crew, brings up for immediate decision one phase of the question, concerning which I addressed you yesterday in submitting a letter from Mr. Peters, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.
The vessel at the outbreak of hostilities was the George Washington, a steamer of German register owned by a German corporation, a subsidiary company of the Standard Oil Company. She was transferred to the Standard Oil Company, the purchase money being paid, was renamed the Brindilla and obtained an American register. On a full statement of the facts of the transfer the Bureau of War Risk Insurance issued a policy on the hull of the vessel for a voyage to Alexandria, Egypt, with the privilege of coaling at Sicily or the Azores. The cargo of the vessel consists of illuminating oil.
This case is, therefore, a transfer of flag rather than a transfer of ownership, but, if the British Government intends to deny the right of transfer of flag during hostilities, as this seizure would indicate, it is evident that transfer of ownership will be treated as invalid and vessels purchased from enemies of Great Britain will be seized as prize.
It seems to me that the only course is to make an immediate and vigorous protest against the action of the British authorities in seizing an American vessel bound to a neutral port.
Very sincerely yours,
- For correspondence previously printed regarding the Brindilla, see Foreign Relations, 1914, Supp., pp. 325–326.↩