300.115(39) City of Flint/61: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State
829. A member of the German Embassy here has stated the following in strict confidence concerning the City of Flint:
Upon arrival in Murmansk the German Lieutenant in command of the prize crew presented a written protocol to the Murmansk port authorities to the effect that he had put into that port for the following reasons:
- 1.
- Repairs of encrusted boilers.
- 2.
- Absence of suitable charts “for the waters in that area.”
- 3.
- Absence of adequate sounding instruments on board.
- 4.
- To obtain provisions and stores.
The port authorities at Murmansk in their ignorance of international law interned the prize crew who had been subsequently released when the Soviet Government in Moscow had familiarized itself with the law regarding the bringing of prizes into neutral ports. When the necessary repairs had been made, charts received, and the ship provisioned it had put to sea immediately. My informant admitted that Molotov had sent for the German Ambassador88 on the evening of October 24 but maintained that no attempt had been made by his Ambassador to influence the Soviet decision and that Molotov had appeared to be very vague on the points of international law involved.
My informant stated that he did not know whether the reasons advanced by the German Lieutenant were sufficient before a prize court to satisfy the provisions of article 21 of the Hague Convention but that the Lieutenant, who was undoubtedly familiar with the law, had probably drawn up the protocol in order to permit the vessel to enter under article 21. He added that one member of the German prize crew had been operated on for appendicitis in Murmansk and had been left behind in that port. He concluded by stating that he believed there was very little chance the City of Flint would reach a German port, but that rather than permit her to be captured by the British he thought the German Lieutenant after removing the American crew and his own crew would sink the ship.
While the foregoing is obviously a presentation of the German version of the case, the statement in respect of the protocol may prove to be in accordance with the facts.
[Page 1003]I doubt the statement that the German Ambassador made no attempt to influence the Soviet position and consider it very probable that his conference with Molotov on the evening of October 24 was for the purpose of arriving at a mutually satisfactory solution.