500.A15 a 1/291: Telegram
The Chairman of the American Delegation (Gibson) to the Secretary of State
[Received 11:37 a.m.]
11. Following is text of press release described last paragraph my 9, June 19, 2 p.m.42 If Department desires, this may be given out at the same time as text opening statement and American proposal.
“If the plan outlined in the American proposal were adopted on the basis of 300,000 tons of the cruiser class for the United States and the British Empire and 180,000 tons for Japan, and 250,000 in the destroyer class for the United States and the British Empire and 150,000 tons for Japan, the following is an approximate estimate of the tonnage that would have to be scrapped provided existing programs of construction were brought to completion: The United States would have to scrap immediately about 60,000 tons of auxiliary combatant surface vessels and 80,000 additional tons of such vessels upon the completion of the present building program; the British Empire would have to scrap about 60,000 tons of auxiliary combatant surface vessels upon completion of the present building program; Japan would have to scrap about 40,000 tons of auxiliary combatant surface vessels upon the completion of her present building program.
If the plan outlined in the American proposal were adopted on the basis of 90,000 tons of submarines for the United States and the British Empire and 54,000 tons of submarines for Japan, no scrapping of submarines would be necessary until present building programs are brought to completion.
Most of all vessels to be scrapped under the American plan are now or soon will be obsolete.
This plan stops competitive building which is the chief objective of this Conference, avoids scrapping of new construction and permits moderate replacement and building programs within clearly defined limits. If a lower limit of total tonnage of the cruiser, destroyer and submarine classes were agreed to, the scrapping programs would be correspondingly increased and the possible building programs would be curtailed.”
Navy Department information.
- Not printed.↩