File No. 763.72/12038
The Ambassador in France ( Sharp) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 2, 11.49 a.m.]
5666. On hearing rumors today to the effect that the Jugo-Slavs had determined to retain possession of the Austrian fleet on the Adriatic in defiance of the Allied Powers but subject to the disposition of the United States, I asked Doctor Trumbich, now in Paris, to come to the Embassy that I might ascertain the exact situation. This was on the suggestion of Colonel House. Reference to Doctor Trumbich and his work was made at some length in my No. 5492, October 19, 12 midnight.1
Doctor Trumbich spent an hour with me going over the situation, which unless promptly dealt with will present some embarrassing if not serious considerations. He told me that Austrian naval commanders having been quite generally recalled, the ships had been left in possession of the Jugo-Slav crews even more inimical to Italy [Page 861] than to Austria, that if Italian warships should appear in waters adjacent to the Austrian fleet thus manned they would be attacked. The doctor further stated that the Austrian fleet would be turned over only to war vessels of the United States, and this whether on the Adriatic or in the Danube. He told me with much feeling how the Italian Government had thrown into prison on several occasions Jugo-Slav aviators who had [flown] across the Adriatic to give the Italian naval officers valuable information about the Austrian fleet, He declared that as long as the London agreement of April 1915 remained in force whereby Jugo-Slav [seacoast] and territory had been bargained to Italy, his people would retain possession of the Austrian fleet now committed to their charge but instead [omission]. I shall confer with Colonel House tomorrow upon this new situation.
- Not printed.↩