Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, The Conference of Berlin (The Potsdam Conference), 1945, Volume II

J. C. S. Files

No. 1196
Memorandum by the United States Chiefs of Staff ¹

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C. C. S. 679/9

[ Babelsberg ,] 23 July 1945.

Employment of Captured Enemy Ocean-Going Passenger Shipping and British Troopship Employment in U. S. Trans-Atlantic Programs in the First Half of 1946

The United States Chiefs of Staff agree with the provisions of C. C. S. 679/8² except for the date of 31 December 1945 given in paragraph 5 as terminating the use by the United States of the six of the seven captured German ships destined for the Pacific.

After moving these ships great distances to the Pacific we shall be fortunate to obtain one trip from them before the 31 December date. By then our deployment will not have ended and the main operation will yet have to be undertaken. It would be uneconomical to remove this shipping from the Pacific after just one run. When ships may be withdrawn from the Pacific, less adaptable shipping such as the converted Victory ships should be first transferred back to the Atlantic. The lift of these ships of course will be included in the proposed review of personnel shipping to be completed by mid-September.

Accordingly, the United States Chiefs of Staff recommend that paragraphs 5 and 6 of C. C. S. 679/8 be modified as indicated in the Enclosure.

[Enclosure^*]

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5. In view of the serious position of United States movement to the Pacific, the British Chiefs of Staff are prepared to agree that the Combined Chiefs of Staff should allocate the total lift of the seven ships listed in C. C. S. 679/6³ for to the United States employment up to 31st December 1945 for employment as follows: the Europa until 31 December 1945; and the Caribia, Patria, Vulcania, Potsdam, Pretoria and Milwaukee until 30 June 1946. In return, they ask that the United States Chiefs of Staff allocate to them a lift of 16,000 during the rest of 1945 for movement of the Canadians, many of whom have been absent from their homes for a very long time. The Canadian Government are pressing us very strongly in this matter.

6. The British Chiefs of Staff further suggest that a combined study on the lines of C. C. S. 679/1⁴ of the combined requirements and combined resources (including captured enemy trooplift) for the first half of 1946 should be completed by mid-September if possible. The study would cover the recommendation in C. C. S. 679/7⁵ and also the employment during the first half of 1946 of the seven ships to which reference is made in C. C. S. 679/6. subject to the provisions of paragraph 5 above.

1. Considered by the Combined Chiefs of Staff at their 199th Meeting, July 23, See ante, p. 293.
2. Document No. 1195.
3. Words underlined are proposed additions. Words italicized are proposed deletions. [Footnote in the original.
3. Document No. 1190.
4. Not printed.
5. Document No. 1191.