File No. 341.115 St 2/11
The British Ambassador ( Spring Rice ) to the Secretary of State
Memorandum
His Majesty’s Ambassador presents his compliments to the Secretary of State of the United States and has the honour to state that, according to information which has reached His Majesty’s Government, two German oil steamships lying at Baton Rouge, the Chatham and Standard, which belonged to the German-American Company of Hamburg, have been sold to the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey and their names changed to Montano and Caloria respectively.
His Majesty’s Ambassador is instructed to say that His Majesty’s Government consider themselves entitled to seize these ships on the ground that the sale was effected only in order to escape risk of capture.
[Received October 19.]