894.3311/683½
The Secretary of the Navy (Knox) to the Secretary of State
(SC) A4–5(2)/EF37
Sir: Reference is made to State Department letter dated March 31, 1941,45 regarding a proposed visit of the Japanese Naval Transport Kyokuto Maru to San Francisco from April 5 to 8, 1941, for the purpose of obtaining fuel oil. In stating that the Navy Department has no objection to this visit, the Secretary of the Navy desires to call attention to the recent frequency of naval visits. Including an additional ship which has been reported confidentially, by the American Consul at Kobe, as enroute to Los Angeles, but regarding which no official request has yet been received, a total of twelve Japanese naval vessels will have obtained a cargo of oil from the United States within a period of six months, five of these within a period of sixty days.
Certain of the vessels now listed as naval vessels have made previous similar trips in their original status as commercial vessels. It appears more than probable that their current naval status has been devised to bestow upon them, and upon their obvious purposes, a degree of immunity which a commercial vessel could scarcely command.
It is suggested that the recent frequency of such visits is, to say the least, unusual; and a matter regarding which it is considered that some restrictive policy would be a timely precaution to prevent the abuse of international courtesy in a manner which appears contrary to the best interests of the United States.
Respectfully,
- Not printed.↩