Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1936, General, British Commonwealth, Volume I

500.A15A3/1817: Telegram

The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Bingham) to the Secretary of State

London, September 7, 1936—7 p.m.
[Received September 7—2:02 p.m.]

421. Craigie¹² stated this afternoon that a copy of the Japanese note of August 31, relating to their decision to retain excess tonnage in destroyers and submarines was communicated to the Department by the British Embassy in Washington on September 4.¹³

Craigie said that the British Government had not yet fully made up its mind just what action to take but that they were not disposed to view the practical consequences of Japanese retention of 15,598 tons of old submarines as very alarming. The Japanese Ambassador in London has been requested to have the Japanese Naval Attaché confer with the Admiralty and give the full technical details as to how the Japanese arrived at their figures, which Craigie says are not clear to the British. He said that they would appreciate an expression of our views as soon as the Department might care to indicate them.

Bingham

12. Sir Robert Leslie Craigie, British Assistant Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
13. A summary of the Japanese note of August 31 was received on September 8 from the British Embassy.