500.A15A5/498: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Bingham) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 28—9:13 a.m.]
482. The following is supplementary to my strictly confidential cable No. 478, September 27, 5 p.m.
Referring to the first two capital ships to be built by each of our nations after 1936, the British tentatively suggested 15-inch guns for them. They were told 15-inch guns were unacceptable to us as we had never developed a naval gun of this calibre and that if 14 inches were to be exceeded, we considered the present allowed maximum, viz. 16 inches, should be retained. The British, of course, have 16-inch guns in service as well as we, and there is good reason to believe they have done development work on a 14-inch gun but their exact progress in this is not known. The British promptly dropped the 15-inch proposal.