500.A15A3/1819a: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Japan (Grew)
114. 1. On September 3 the Japanese Ambassador delivered a memorandum14 in which there was expressed the intention of the Japanese Government to retain an excess of 26,657 tons of destroyers and submarines, of which 15,598 tons are to be of submarines, in view of the British action in invoking Article 21 of the London Naval Treaty, 1930, in order to retain 40,000 tons of over-age destroyer tonnage.
2. On September 5 we replied.15 We took the view that there is no legal warrant for the retention by the Japanese of 15,598 tons of submarines without recourse to Article 21. We did not question the right of the Japanese to make a proportionate increase in the destroyer category. We could not, however, follow the reasoning that because the Japanese do not possess sufficient tonnage in the destroyer category they should compensate by retaining excess submarine tonnage. We did not, however, question their right to retain submarines if they consider the requirements of their national security affected by new construction by any Power other than those which had joined in Part III of the London Naval Treaty, 1930, but we held that the only method provided for raising tonnage limits was through recourse to Article 21. We concluded by stating that should the Japanese invoke Article 21 to retain excess submarines we would reserve the right to make a proportionate increase in the submarine category.