810.20 Defense/834

The Secretary of the Navy ( Knox ) to the Secretary of State

Serial No. 010913
(SC) EF 23/L 4–3

Sir: In regard to Mr. Paul F. Foster’s project for the development of Albemarle Island in the Galápagos Group,17 in which the State [Page 262] Department is interested, the Navy Department believes that the naval facilities which should be installed on Albemarle Island, in order to comply with the President’s wishes, are the following:

Estimated Cost
(a) A pier capable of taking a vessel three hundred fifteen feet in length and draft of twenty feet. $176,000.00
(b) A radio station capable of communicating with the Canal Zone. 395,000.00
(c) A ramp for hauling out patrol planes. 190,000.00
(d) Storage for 10,000 gallons of aviation gasoline. 14,000.00
Total $775,000.00

The above items are listed in the order of desirability. In the event this program is believed to be too ambitious the Navy Department will be glad to eliminate items starting from the bottom of the list.

The estimated costs shown above are curbstone estimates. To form a real estimate an investigation of the conditions at the site would be required. No personnel shelter is included in the above figures.

It is recommended that such naval facilities as may be constructed on Albemarle Island be located at Elizabeth Bay.

Respectfully,

Frank Knox
  1. This project was planned for the purposes of exploiting sulfur deposits and of establishing an observation post as a defense measure. See Foreign Relations, 1940, vol. v, pp. 850 ff.