740.0011 European War 1939/24281: Telegram
The Chargé in France (Tuck) to the Secretary of State
[Received 3:20 p.m.]
1376. Our 1315, September 7. A reliable official informs us that the Germans are continuing to exert pressure on Vichy with a view to obtaining merchant tonnage immediately. Under the German plan the ships are to be delivered to an Italian port (probably Genoa) where they will be manned by an Italian crew and put in service as soon as possible transporting supplies to Libya.
While our informant still believes that the French if only for the present may be resisting the German demand for French tonnage he expressed the opinion that the neutral tonnage interned in French ports will soon be turned over.
As a result of the shortage of fuel oil the Germans are particularly interested in coal burning vessels and at the present time a large percentage [Page 198] of the coal burning ships of countries occupied by Germany, which are in French hands, are being used in the traffic between North Africa and metropolitan France. The delivery of these vessels to the Germans will further cripple French economy.
Repeated to London and Algiers.