119.2/3014
Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs (Murray)
Admiral William H. Standley, Chief of Naval Operations, came to see me this morning with regard to the question of establishing and maintaining effective radio communication between this country and Ethiopia. I gave the Admiral a copy of the letter addressed by the Secretary yesterday to the Secretary of the Navy94 informing him of the substance of our communications thus far with the British Government on this subject and requesting him to send forward as early as possible, and by the most practicable means, a suitable receiving and sending set to be installed in the American Legation at Addis Ababa.
The Admiral told me that the radio set would go forward, with the necessary personnel, on September 18 and would arrive at Djibouti on October 14 according to the plans worked out by the Navy Department.
In glancing over the telegrams on this subject from London the Admiral commented, with a twinkle in his eye, on the statement that the British Government “would be pleased” to afford every facility to an American cruiser in that region of the world. I explained to the Admiral that we had thought it desirable to obtain the necessary information on the matter of communications between this country and Ethiopia either with or without the services of a cruiser. I remarked that the final decision as to whether we would or would not dispatch a cruiser was not at this moment pressing; the dispatch of the radio receiving and sending set for our Legation at Addis Ababa was, on the other hand, of the greatest urgency.
- Not printed.↩