711.0011 Armament Control/Military Secrets/1790
Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Controls ( Green )
Captain C. S. Joyce, representing Gibbs and Cox, Inc., naval architects, called at my Office this morning. He said that Admiral Isakov, who has been representing the Soviet Government in its negotiations with Gibbs and Cox, Inc., with a view to the construction of destroyers for his Government, had unexpectedly been ordered to return to Moscow immediately and was planning to sail tomorrow morning. Captain Joyce said that the Admiral had informed him that this order to return to Moscow before he had had time to carry out his [Page 877] mission was due to the recent shakeup in Soviet Government and particularly to the appointment of Kuznetzof as Commissar for the Navy. From his conversations with the Admiral, Captain Joyce had drawn the conclusion that the Admiral believed his position to be precarious and was looking forward to his return to Moscow with apprehension. He said that as things now stand the Admiral would return without any concrete accomplishment to his credit. Therefore he very much hoped that the Navy Department might be able to find that no military secrets were involved in the two sets of plans for destroyers which have been submitted by Mr. Gibbs and might expedite its decision so that the Admiral could at least report to Moscow that he had obtained plans for destroyers which this Government would permit to be constructed in this country for the Soviet Government. To that end Captain Joyce had called at the Navy Department this morning. He said that he had not obtained any intimation as to what the decision of the Navy Department would be but that he had obtained assurance that its decision would be transmitted to me on Tuesday of next week.84 He said that on the basis of that assurance he intended to attempt to persuade Admiral Isakov to put off his departure for one week provided that I could assure him that I would be able to transmit the decision of the Navy Department to Gibbs and Cox as soon as it was received.
I told Captain Joyce that if the decision of the Navy Department were clear in its terms and if it involved no unexpected features which would require me to consult with my superiors before communicating the decision to Gibbs and Cox, a letter from the Department should be in Mr. Gibbs hands within forty-eight hours after the Navy Department’s letter reached me. I suggested that Mr. Gibbs telephone me late Tuesday afternoon to ascertain whether or not the letter from the Navy Department had arrived. I said that if it had arrived I might be in a position at that time to give Mr. Gibbs some indication as to the nature of the decision.
Captain Joyce said that he thought it probable that the Navy Department would find that no military secrets were involved in the plans for the hulls, et cetera, but that the Navy Department would state that it could not make available to American manufacturers designs for ordnance which would be satisfactory to the Soviet Government. We discussed at some length the law relating to the release of military secrets and the extent to which the Navy Department could legally go in making plans and specifications available to American manufacturers if it saw fit to do so.
I told Captain Joyce that Mr. Scott Ferris had, on several occasions, recently expressed the desire to be informed as soon as possible of the decision of the Navy Department. I said that I did not feel that I [Page 878] could properly without authorization from Mr. Gibbs give Mr. Ferris any information in regard to the decision of the Navy Department. I requested him to ask Mr. Gibbs whether he would authorize me to give Mr. Ferris any information and if so how much information in regard to the nature of the Navy Department’s decision he would be willing to have me communicate to Mr. Ferris.
When Captain Joyce left he told me that he was going to make every effort to persuade Admiral Isakov to defer his departure until next week in the hope that the decision of the Navy Department would have been communicated to Gibbs and Cox and through them to the Admiral before the Admiral’s departure.
- May 16.↩