795.00/11–2751
Memorandum by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the Secretary of Defense (Lovett)
Subject: U.S.S.R. Diplomatic Note Concerning Violation of U.S.S.R. Asiatic Border by U.S. Plane
1. On 8 November 1951 in your message Def 864772 you requested the Commander in Chief United Nations Command (CINCUNC) to [Page 1164] submit a report in connection with the alleged violation of the U.S.S.R. border near Vladivostok by a U.S. aircraft.
2. The requested report was submitted by CINCUNC in his CX 57014 (DA IN 17741).3
3. The Secretary of the Navy reported the incident to you in serial 000443P35 on 10 November 1951,4 with a recommendation that the information be forwarded to the Secretary of State for such action as may be necessary.
4. CINCUNC’s report of the United Nations Command operations in Korea for the period 1–15 November contains a statement that a United Nations Command twin-engined Neptune patrol bomber is presumed to be lost after failing to return to its base on 6 November. The plane was on a weather reconnaissance flight over the northern Sea of Japan and an intensive search for survivors has had negative results.
5. From the facts known in connection with the missing plane, there can be no doubt that it is the same plane that the U.S.S.R. note admits was fired upon by two Soviet fighters.
6. It is considered appropriate to request the Department of State to release the facts of the incident to the press, and to make a strong diplomatic protest through the United Nations to the Soviet Union for firing on a U.N. plane and probable destruction while over international waters well clear of Soviet territory.
7. It is therefore recommended that the Secretary of Defense request the Secretary of State to make a strong diplomatic protest at this time to the Soviet Union through appropriate United Nations channels. It is considered that the following facts should be included in the protest:
- a.
- A United Nations plane, a two-motored P2V bomber, failed to return from a weather reconnaissance over the Sea of Japan on 6 November 1951.
- b.
- The route this plane was following did not approach closer than 40 miles to U.S.S.R. territory, and the plane crew had been thoroughly briefed not to approach closer than 20 miles to the U.S.S.R. territory under any circumstances.
- c.
- The Soviet note of November 7, 1951, admits two Soviet fighter planes fired on a two-engine bomber at 10:10 Vladivostok time. From the last reported position of the reconnaissance plane at 0850 (–9 time zone) on 6 November, it is undoubtedly this plane that was fired upon by the Soviet fighters.
- d.
- An intentional or unplanned approach to the Russian coast was not made, and the plane was intercepted and attacked without warning while over international waters, and furthermore, while well outside of twenty miles from the Russian coastline.
8. It is also recommended that the Secretary of State be requested to release to the press the facts as reported above, including the statements that an intensive search for survivors proved fruitless.5
Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
Secretary
- A covering note, not printed, from Acting Secretary of Defense William C. Foster to the Secretary of State, dated November 27, indicated Mr. Foster’s strong concurrence in the recommendations of this memorandum. The covering note, which formally transmitted the memorandum, stated that it had been informally handcarried to the Secretary of State on November 23.↩
- See footnote 2, p. 1097.↩
- Dated November 10, p. 1116.↩
- Not printed.↩
- On the following day, November 24, Ambassador Warren R. Austin communicated to the U.N. Secretary-General a note incorporating the information contained in paragraph 7 of this memorandum. Mr. Austin’s note was released to the press on the same day; for the text, see the Department of State Bulletin, December 3, 1951, p. 909.↩