811.73/488
The Secretary of the British Embassy (Craigie) to the Third Assistant Secretary of State (Merle-Smith)
My Dear Mr. Assistant Secretary: After your telephone call on December 18th, His Majesty’s Ambassador did not fail to cable to the Foreign Office for information with regard to the cable ship Stephan.
Sir Auckland has now received a reply to the effect that this vessel was to have carried 200 miles of cable for the Western Union Company to the western Atlantic, none of which was to have been laid in United States territorial waters.
The Foreign Office add that the ship will not now carry any such cable.
Believe me [etc.]