The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II. Robert J. Cressman
the Hannover incident of 8 March, to the British and German governments, calling attention to their violation of the Pan-American Neutrality Zone, and to the Chairman of the Inter-American Neutrality Committee in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, directing that body’s attention to the case.
Allied Supreme Command decides to evacuate its forces from Norway.
25 Saturday
Minor Landing and Base Defense Exercise begins at San Clemente Island, California (see 1 June).
26 Sunday
U.S. Minister in Uruguay Edwin C. Wilson, in a telegram to Secretary of State Cordell Hull, reports tension between the Uruguayan and German governments over the former’s searching homes and businesses of Germans and charges by the latter that the Uruguayan police were employing “rough methods” in their investigations (see 30 May).
Operation DYNAMO: Evacuation of British, French, and Belgian troops from Dunkirk, France, begins, aided by poor flying weather that limits German aerial operations (see 4 June).
28 Tuesday
National Defense Advisory Committee is established, which includes in its membership former automobile manufacturer William S. Knudsen, corporate executive Edward R. Stettinius, labor leader Sidney Hillman, and economist Leon Henderson. There is, however, no head to this group that only serves to advise President Roosevelt on defense issues (see 7 January 1941).
Belgium surrenders to Germany.
Ambassador to France William C. Bullitt, through a telegram to Secretary of State Cordell Hull, urgently asks President Roosevelt to send a cruiser to Bordeaux, France, (1) to bring arms and ammunition urgently required by the French police to quell a feared “Communist uprising” as German forces near Paris and other industrial centers and (2) to take away the French and Belgian gold reserves. “If you cannot send a cruiser of the San Francisco [CA 38] class to Bordeaux,” Bullitt implores, “please order the Trenton [CL 11] at Lisbon [Squadron 40-T flagship] to take on fuel and supplies at once for a trip to America and order her today to Bordeaux.” Consequently, heavy cruiser Vincennes (CA 44) departs Hampton Roads, Virginia, in company with destroyers Truxtun (DD 229) and Simpson (DD 221), bound for the Azores on the first leg of the voyage undertaken in response to the ambassador’s second concern (see 9 June).
Ambassador Bullitt also urges that the Atlantic Fleet be sent to the Mediterranean as “one of the surest ways” to obtain British and French cooperation in keeping German attacks away from the United States (see 30 May).
29 Wednesday
French auxiliary cruiser Ville d’Oran loads 200 tons of gold (French reserve) for shipment to Casablanca, French Morocco (see 9 June).
30 Thursday
President Roosevelt (through Secretary of State Cordell Hull) rejects Ambassador to France William C. Bullitt’s request of 28 May to send the fleet to the Mediterranean. “The presence of the fleet in the Pacific at this time,” Hull reminds the ambassador, “is a very practical contribution to the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.”
U.S. Minister in Uruguay Edwin C. Wilson reports “deteriorating” situation in Montevideo in a telegram to Secretary of State Cordell Hull. Wilson describes the Uruguayan government as “well meaning but weak, undecided and confused,” with things “drifting” and “people . . . climbing on the Nazi band wagon.” Wilson also warns that an “armed movement is a possibility” (see 31 May).
31 Friday
U.S. Ambassador to Argentina Norman Armour and U.S. Minister in Uruguay Edwin C. Wilson confer in Montevideo about the deteriorating situation in Uruguay, and jointly suggest (in a telegram to Secretary of State Cordell Hull) that “if the situation in the Far East permits,” sending a “large U.S. naval force, 40 or 50 vessels . . . to the east coast of South America.” A naval visit of that nature, the diplomats believe, “would strengthen the position of those who desire to combat Nazism, as well as restore the confidence of those who are now wavering” and that the stationing of a U.S. naval squadron “more or less permanently in these waters would be an added assurance that we are prepared to give effective and immediate assistance if required.”
In reply to U.S. Minister in Uruguay Wilson’s telegram of the previous day, Secretary of State Hull informs the envoy in Montevideo that President Roosevelt has ordered heavy cruiser Quincy (CA 39) to proceed immediately to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and thence directly to Montevideo for “friendly visits of courtesy” (see 12 June).
Chief of the Division of the American Republics (Laurence Duggan) of the State Department suggests to Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles that President Roosevelt’s decision “to detach two or three cruisers to go down the east coast,” of South America be made public “in order to put a little iron in the veins of our friends in those countries.”
JUNE
1 Saturday
Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles, commenting on U.S. Minister in Uruguay Edwin C. Wilson’s suggestion to send 40 or 50 naval vessels to South American waters, suggests “at least three or four heavy cruisers and a reasonable number of destroyers . . . on the East Coast [of South America] this summer.” That same day, Welles informs U.S. Ambassador to Brazil Jefferson Caffery that heavy cruiser Quincy (CA 39) is en route to Rio de Janeiro and Montevideo “to furnish a reminder of the strength and the range of action of the armed forces of the United States.”
Battleship Washington (BB 56) is launched at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. She is the first American battleship to go down the ways since West Virginia (BB 48) on 19 November 1921.
Minor Landing and Base Defense Exercise at San Clemente Island, California, begun on 25 May, concludes; for the first time one of the newly organized USMC Defense Battalions carries out the mission of defending an advanced base against a landing force supported by aircraft and ships.
U.S. freighter Charles R. McCormick, the American flag displayed prominently, departs Bergen, Norway, for the United States.
2 Sunday
Chief of Naval Operations (Admiral Harold R. Stark) sends memorandum to President Roosevelt that addresses options concerning the situation in South America; of those proposed, the President believes that the only solution lies in dispatching one additional 8-inch gun cruiser to South America, continuing destroyer shakedown cruises to South American waters, and utilizing ships already in the Atlantic Squadron, thus not weakening the fleet in the Pacific.
U.S. steamship President Roosevelt departs Galway, Ireland, with 720 American citizens fleeing the European war zone. Passenger liner Manhattan departs Genoa, Italy, the same day with 1,905 passengers.
4 Tuesday
Operation DYNAMO, begun on 26 May, is completed; all told, some 848 vessels of every size and displacement take part in the extraction of 338,226 men (including 123,000 French).20
5 Wednesday
Auxiliary Bear (AG 29) arrives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, having proceeded from Antarctica via Valparaiso, Chile, the Panama Canal, and Key West, Florida (see 10 October).
9 Sunday
Allies complete evacuation of British, French, and Norwegian troops from Norway.
Heavy cruiser Vincennes (CA 44) and destroyers Truxtun (DD 229) and Simpson (DD 221) reach Casablanca, French Morocco, having touched briefly at Ponta Delgada, Azores (4–6 June) en route. Vincennes’s mission is to load the 200 tons of gold brought to Casablanca by French auxiliary cruiser Ville d’Oran. The precious metal cargo (Bank of France gold reserves) will be transported to New York for deposit in U.S. banks (see 10 and 20 June).21
Destroyer Dickerson (DD 157), from Squadron 40-T, departs Casablanca with American nationals who desire passage on board U.S. passenger liner Washington, which is slated to leave Lisbon, Portugal, the next day for Ireland and the United States. Washington departs