File No. 763.72111E19/69
The German Ambassador ( Bernstorff ) to the Secretary of State
[Received July 3.]
Mr. Secretary of State: The commanding officers of H. M. S. S. Prinz Eitel Friedrich and Kronprinz Wilhelm, at the request of Rear Admiral Beatty, then commandant of the Navy Yard at Portsmouth, Va., gave, after they were interned, the assurance for themselves, their subordinate officers and men not to go beyond the assigned limits without permission.
This they reported to their superior authorities, the General Staff of the Navy at Berlin, but owing to the uncertainty of mail communications the answer has just been received.
The General Staff at Berlin does not assent to the form of the pledge given and declares that it cannot be admitted that commanding officers may give such an assurance for others. The assurance can only be given by every individual for himself. On the other hand the commanding officers may well give the assurance that they will use their best efforts and every means to see that their officers and men observe the required conditions.
The commanding officers are therefore constrained to withdraw the assurance given by them at the time.
The General Staff in no wise intends this order to be taken as meaning to release the interned officers and men in any way from the obligations put upon them by the Government of the United States, but merely has in view a direction to the commanding officers to agree with the military authorities upon a form that will not conflict with the German ideas concerning the pledging of one’s honor. In the German Army and Navy the prevailing sentiment is that an officer may not pledge his honor for a subordinate. But he is fully empowered to order his subordinates to obey the directions issued by the authorities of the United States and to enforce such an order by every means at his disposal.
Officers and men may also pledge their honor that while on shore leave they will hot either flee beyond the limits of the internment camp or prepare for an attempt to escape or engage in any unneutral act. The declaration can either be made on every occasion for the time of the leave or also in such a form that the declaration once made is valid for every leave granted during internment.
The commanding officers of H. M. S. Prinz Eitel Friedrich and Kronprinz Wilhelm have asked me to bring the foregoing to the knowledge of the proper authorities of the United States through your excellency in order that there be no misconception when they shortly call on the commandant of the United States Navy Yard [Page 718] at Portsmouth, Va., and ask to be released from the pledge given by them at the time. The General Staff of the Imperial Navy is also of the opinion that interned officers and men must unconditionally comply with the regulations issued by the interning states.
Accept [etc.]