867.24/623: Telegram
The Chargé in the United Kingdom (Matthews) to the Secretary of State
[Received 10:10 p.m.]
1813. Department’s 1550, March 12, 7 p.m. The Foreign Office says that at Adana the Prime Minister offered to consider the temporary transfer to the Turkish flag of a number of vessels. Today the British are telling the Turks that they will make available five ships of a total deadweight tonnage of 25,000 tons. The first two of those vessels will be handed over in Egyptian ports in March, two more in April, and one in May. The Turks must provide crews, and the ships will carry munitions and civilian supplies, or anything else the Turks wish.
The reason for this unusual offer on the part of the British is that the two principal Turkish ports of Istanbul and Izmir cannot be used by Allied vessels because of Axis domination of the Aegean Sea. (The Turkish merchant fleet is well known to be very poor and, moreover, needed for coastal traffic.) Consequently, all Allied shipping goes to Alexandretta, and there is considerable congestion that port. By making available to the Turks vessels which can fly the Turkish flag the problem of getting supplies to Turkey will be greatly alleviated.
Insofar as railway equipment is concerned, this question is being discussed in Ankara by a mixed Anglo-Turkish transportation commission. The statement of the British Ambassador to Turkey contained in your telegram under reference is substantially correct. The British are prepared to release a certain number of Mikado locomotives, which will be a re-transfer of Lend Lease material, and they are also prepared to release approximately 250 freight cars of British origin.
The Foreign Office believes that the real snag is coal. There is no sea transportation available for bringing coal from Zonguldak to the South of Turkey, and the British believe that already there are a number of locomotives in the south lying idle for lack of coal. If coal were available in this area, the British would be willing to hand over more locomotives to the Turks.