BRITI8H EMBASSY,
WASHINGTON, P.O.,
October S7thf 1939.
No. 1811.
Hy Lord,
X have the honour to inform Your
fcordship that the case of the United States
merchant ship NGi$y of Flint* which was seised
hy the German battleship "Deutschland* while
en route from this country to the United Kingdom
and sent In charge of a German prize crew first
to Tromso snd subsequently to Murmansk, has attracted
considerable attention here.     Copies of press
releases issued by the United States Maritime
Commission, the owners of the vessel, giving
particulars of the incident, details of the ship's
cargo and the names of the American crew are
enclosed herein.
2. The British Library of Information will
have folly reported fully on the reactions of the
newspapers and public opinion to the affair and X
will therefore in this despatch merely report on
the action taken by the United States Government
in the matter so far as is at present known* The
State Department's first action was to instruct
the United States representatives in Berlin, Moseow
and Oslo to ascertain the actual facts of the case,
and la the interval both the President and the
Secretary of State, when questioned at their press
conferences, declined to discuss the matter in
detail, though both implied that the United States
The Right Honourable jfsPrhM:NT Government/
The Viscount Halifax, K. G.,
etc.,      etc., ©to.

•9- I
Government would take steps to secure the release
of the ship*     The enquiries made by the United States
Ambassador in Berlin produced an explanation from
the German Government that the "City of Flint* had
been seized because she was carrying contraband and
that she had been taken to Murmansk because of the
damages which rendered her unseawrthy.     A copy
of a State Department prose release giving the substance
of the German Government's reply is enclosed herein*
8* Having confirmed the facts cf ths case, the
State Department then, it would seem, instructed the
United States Ambassador in Moscow to demand the ship's
release by the Soviet authorities.     To judge by the
newspaper reports, the State Department baaed this
claim on the principle established in the case of the
"Appan* in 1916 that a neutral port cannot be used
as a haven fof refuge for prizes*   That the United
States authorities considered this the correct
argument Is borne out by a conversation which a member
of my staff had yesterday at the State Department*
When it was   suggested that there might be another
side to the argument and that it might be contended
that according to article 85 of tne Hague Convention
XIII of 1907 - which article however the United
States do not accept * neutrals might allow prizes
to enter their ports and remain there pending a
decision of the Prize Court of the captor* the
official at the State Department professed never
to have heard of this argument*
4* It has now been announced that the *01ty
of Flint11 has left Murmansk, having been required to
leave by the Soviet authorities after they had
examined/
•8-
examined the cargo. It would seem however that ah*
is still In charge of a German crew and is therefore
presumably en route for a German port*   It remains to
be seen whether the United States Government will
be satisfied with this situation or whet bar they will
insist that the Soviet Government should have removed
the prize crew and released the vessel unconditionally*
I have the honour to be.
with the highest respect.
My Lord.
Your Lordship's matt obedient.
humble servant.
(SOU) LOTHIAK