740.00119 E W/10–1344
The Secretary of State to
the Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant)
No. 4649
Washington, October 19,
1944.
The Secretary of State encloses a letter under date of September 4, 1944
from the Joint Chiefs of Staff giving their views with respect to the
ultimate disposition of the German fleet. This communication was
submitted to the President for his consideration before transmission to
the Embassy. The Ambassador will observe that the President has now
approved the views of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in his memorandum of
October 13, 1944, a copy of which is attached hereto.
In negotiations within the European Advisory Commission on this subject,
the Ambassador will be guided by the two enclosures to this
instruction.
[Enclosure 1]
The Joint Chiefs of
Staff to the Secretary of
State
Washington, 4 September
1944.
My Dear Mr. Secretary: It is understood
that the immediate disposition of units of the German fleet in
connection with the imposition of surrender terms upon the defeat of
Germany is presently under advisement in the European Advisory
Commission, and that it has been tentatively agreed that the
ultimate disposition of the units of the German fleet will be a
matter for decision by the governments of the United Nations
concerned.
It is the view of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that, except for the
retention of a limited number of ships for experimental and test
purposes, the German fleet should be completely destroyed.
[Page 356]
In the event that agreement cannot be reached with the Russians and
the British on this basis, the United States should press for
either:
-
a.
- A one-third share of each category of ships in the German
fleet; or
-
b.
- Agreement that all capital ships, such as battleships,
pocket battleships and heavy cruisers, and submarines be
destroyed, while smaller craft and more lightly armed
vessels be shared equally by the United States, Russia, and
Great Britain.
Sincerely yours,
For the Joint Chiefs of Staff:
William D. Leahy
,
Admiral, U. S. Navy
Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of the
Army and Navy
[Enclosure 2]
Memorandum by President Roosevelt to the Secretary of
State
Washington, October 13,
1944.
I agree with the views of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in regard to the
complete destruction of the German fleet.
I have one amendment to make. Destruction in the past has meant
taking the ships to sea and sinking them. I think that in some cases
surrendered ships have been destroyed by converting them into scrap
metal. I do not like the idea of the complete destruction by sinking
of thousands of tons of steel.
Recently a new use for such ships has been discovered. We have used
sunken ships as breakwaters for the formation of new harbors. This
has been done in Italy and has been done on the coast of Normandy.
It is a relatively cheap way to build a breakwater. I think that the
United Nations should be in a position to pass on applications by
the Allied nations for these ships for the definite and specific
purpose of sinking them as breakwaters to improve or create safe
anchorages. It is rather a nice thought to use them for such
peaceful purposes.
In any such cases, the ships should be sunk at a designated place as
quickly as possible and under the eyes of a United Nations’
Committee. Once sunk it would be practically impossible to raise
them and restore them to war purposes.
F[ranklin] D. R[oosevelt]
