Office of the Historian

740.0011 Stettinius Mission/40: Telegram

The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant) to the Secretary of State

London, April 18, 1944—11 p.m.
[Received April 18—9:55 p.m.]

3187. Deles No. 20. From the Under Secretary.4 Please send copy to the War Shipping Administration.

Reed,5 Pratt6 and I have had an exploratory discussion with Lord Leathers7 concerning the British proposal contained in a memorandum [Page 645] of March 7 submitted by British Embassy to Department in regard to the international control of shipping after the termination of the war in Europe. I suggest that Reed be designated as the United States representative to discuss with Lord Leathers the suggested revisions of the British memorandum put forward by WSA and approved by the Department, so far as they concern operational matters. Reed has already been authorized to join with Lord Leathers in discussions with certain of the Allied Ministers regarding the disposition of Allied ships found in Continental ports,8 and the two problems are of course related. If you and Admiral Land9 approve, please advise and forward appropriate instructions to Reed to guide him in his discussions, if any are needed to supplement the information in Department’s 2519 of March 31. [Stettinius.]

Winant
  1. The Under Secretary of State, Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., was head of a mission to London which held conversations from April 7 to April 29, 1944, with members of the British Government, with officials of Allied Governments, and with United States diplomatic, military, and civilian officials.↩
  2. Philip Reed, Chief of Mission for Economic Affairs, American Embassy, London.↩
  3. John L. Pratt, Consultant on Commercial Affairs, Department of State; member of the Stettinius Mission to London.↩
  4. British Minister of War Transport.↩
  5. See vol. iii, pp. 140 ff.↩
  6. Adm. Emory S. Land, War Shipping Administrator; Chairman, Maritime Commission; American representative at Washington on Combined Shipping Adjustment Board.↩