500.A15a3/1145: Telegram
The Ambassador in France ( Edge ) to the Secretary of State
[Received 8:08 p.m.]
324. The following information from an official source believed to be accurate has been obtained by the Acting Military Attaché.
The plans of the Ministry of Marine for the French naval program for 1931 are completed and have been approved by Tardieu and by the Ministry of Finance.
Admiral Violette, the author of the program, is a close personal friend of both Herriot and Painlevé, and our information includes statement that the plan has approval of these two leaders of the Left, in event that an agreement with Italy is not obtained. Briand is now considering these plans, and they will be put into effect unless there is an Italian agreement, which seems impossible at the present time.
The proposed French naval plan is based on necessity of insuring unquestioned control of the western end of the Mediterranean and provides for construction of 50,000 tons of new ships in 1931. The keel of one 10,000-ton 8-inch cruiser will be laid on December 1, 1930, and on April 1, 1931, construction will start on the first of three 22,000-ton capital ships. These ships are within the 1.75 ratio allowed France by Washington Treaty, and will mount 13-inch guns and have a speed of 28 to 30 knots.
As a bid for British neutrality, the submarine construction will be reduced except in the 600–ton coast defense class.