740.00111A Ports/35
The Department of State to the British Embassy
Aide-Mémoire
The Department of State refers to the aide-mémoire of the British Embassy, dated April 7, 1941, stating that a considerable number of British merchant vessels are being equipped with fighter aircraft to be used solely for defensive purposes and inquiring whether such vessels will be treated as defensively armed merchant vessels in ports of the United States. It is stated that the crews of the aircraft will be entered upon the ships’ books as members of the ships’ crews.
The Government of the United States is of the view that merchant vessels of belligerent nationality may carry as part of their equipment fighter aircraft intended and used solely for defensive purposes without losing their status as merchant vessels. Instructions to this effect are being issued to the appropriate officers of this Government. These instructions state further that the fighter aircraft shall not be permitted to leave the vessels while the latter are within the territorial waters of the United States and that the crews of the aircraft may be treated as members of the crews of the merchant vessels.