Destroyers-for-bases deal
This article may lend undue weight to certain ideas, incidents, or controversies. (December 2020) |
Signed | 2 September 1940 |
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Signatories |
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Parties | |
Languages | English |
The destroyers-for-bases deal was an agreement between the
Generally referred to as the "twelve hundred-ton type" (also known as "flush-deck", or "four-pipers" after their four
Background
By late June 1940, France had surrendered to Germany and Italy. The British Empire and the Commonwealth stood alone in warfare against Hitler and Mussolini.
The British
By late May, the evacuation of British forces from
With German troops advancing rapidly into France and many in the US government convinced that the defeat of France and Britain was imminent, the US sent a proposal to London through the British ambassador, the Marquess of Lothian, for an American lease of airfields on Trinidad, Bermuda and Newfoundland.[5]
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill initially rejected the offer on May 27 unless Britain received something immediate in return. On June 1, as the defeat of France loomed, Roosevelt bypassed the Neutrality Act by declaring as "surplus" many millions of rounds of US ammunition and obsolescent small arms and authorizing their shipment to Britain. Roosevelt rejected Churchill's pleas for destroyers for the Royal Navy.
By August, while Britain was reaching a low point, US Ambassador
Deal
Roosevelt approved the deal on the evening of August 30, 1940.
- Newfoundland
- Eastern side of the Bahamas
- Southern coast of Jamaica
- Western coast of Saint Lucia
- West coast of Trinidad (Gulf of Paria)
- Antigua
- British Guiana (now Guyana) within fifty miles of Georgetown
The agreement also granted the US air and naval base rights in:
- The Great Sound and Castle Harbour, Bermuda
- South and eastern coasts of Newfoundland
No destroyers were received in exchange for the bases in Bermuda and Newfoundland. Both territories were vital to trans-Atlantic shipping, aviation, and the Battle of the Atlantic. Although enemy attack on either territory was unlikely, it could not be discounted, and Britain had been forced wastefully to maintain defensive forces, including the Bermuda Garrison. The deal allowed Britain to hand much of the defence of Bermuda to the still-neutral US, which freed British forces for redeployment to more active theatres and enabled the development of strategic facilities at US expense, which British forces would also use.
Both the
The agreement for bases in Bermuda stipulated that the US would, at its own expense, build an airfield capable of handling large landplanes that would be operated jointly by the US Army Air Force and the Royal Air Force. The airfield was named
The US accepted the "generous action... to enhance the national security of the United States" and immediately transferred in return 50 Caldwell, Wickes, and Clemson-class U.S. Navy destroyers, "generally referred to as the twelve hundred-ton type" (also known as "flush-deckers", or "four-pipers" after their four
Britain had no choice but to accept the deal, but it was so much more advantageous to the United States than Britain that Churchill's aide
We have so far only been able to bring a few of your fifty destroyers into action on account of the many defects which they naturally develop when exposed to Atlantic weather after having been laid up so long.[7]
Roosevelt responded by transferring ten
The agreement was much more important for being the start of the
Bases
Newfoundland
Army Air Force airfields:
- Pepperrell Airfield (later AFB) (closed August 1961; turned over to Canadian Forces as CFS St. John's)
- Goose Bay Army Airfield (later Goose AFB) (turned over to Canadian Forces as CFB Goose Bay, July 1976)
- Stephenville Army Airfield (later Ernest Harmon AFB) (closed December 1966; now Stephenville International Airport)
- McAndrew Army Airfield (McAndrew Air Force Base in 1948; transferred to US Navy, 1955)
A Naval Air Station:
- Naval Station Argentia (closed 1994). Location of the August 1941 Atlantic Conference resulting in the Atlantic Charter.
Coastal defense batteries:
- The Harbor Defenses of Argentia and St. John's under control of United States Army Coast Artillery Corps (closed 1945)
United States Army General Surveillance Ground Radar stations:
- Allan's Island; Cape Spear; Elliston Ridge; Fogo Island; St. Bride's radar stations (closed 1945)
British West Indies
- Naval Air Station Crabbs at Crabbs Peninsula
- An Army Air Force airfield (Coolidge Army Airfield (later AFB)) (closed 1949)
- Naval seaplane base on Exuma Island at George Town.[10][11][12]
- An Army Air Force airfield (Atkinson Aerodrome (later AFB)) (closed 1949)
- A Naval seaplane base near NAF British Guiana
- NAVFAC Harrison's Point, Saint Lucy (closed 1979)
- Not part of the exchange, but the US received base rights here for free, in addition to those that were part of the exchange. The US Naval Operating Base was established in 1940, operating as a flying boat base until 1965 (when the US Navy switched to using landplanes from Kindley Air Force Base). The base continued in use for other purposes as the US Naval Annex until 1995. Construction began at the same time of a US Army Air Force airfield, Kindley Field, which was attached to Fort Bell and later became Kindley AFB. Transferred to the US Navy in 1970, it operated as NAS Bermuda until it closed in 1995.
- An Army Air Force airfield (Vernam Army Airfield (later AFB)) (closed 1949)
- A Naval Air Station (Little Goat Island) and a Naval facility at Port Royal
- An Army Air Force airfield (Beane Army Airfield (later AFB)) (closed 1949)
- A Naval Air Station (Gros Islet Bay) NAF St. Lucia
- Naval Base Trinidad, Major base 1941 to 1977
- Two Army Air Force airfields
- Waller Army Airfield (later AFB) (closed 1949)
- Carlsen Army Airfield (later AFB) (closed 1949)
- An emergency airstrip (Camden Airstrip)
- A Naval Operating Base, a Naval Air Station, blimp base, and a radio station[13]
Ships
A total of 50 ships were reassigned: 3 Caldwell-class, 27 Wickes-class and 20 Clemson-class destroyers.
No | Name | Class | Year of launch | Service history and fate |
---|---|---|---|---|
01 | USS Craven (DD-70) | Caldwell | 1918 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Lewes. Scuttled on October 12, 1945. |
02 | USS Conner (DD-72) | Caldwell | 1917 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Leeds. Broken up in 1947. |
03 | USS Stockton (DD-73) | Caldwell | 1917 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Ludlow. Sunk as a target in 1945. |
04 | USS Wickes (DD-75) | Wickes | 1918 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Montgomery. Broken up in 1945. |
05 | USS Philip (DD-76) | Wickes | 1918 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Lancaster. Broken up in 1947. |
06 | USS Evans (DD-78) | Wickes | 1918 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Mansfield. Broken up in 1945. |
07 | USS Sigourney (DD-81) | Wickes | 1917 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Newport. Broken up in 1947. |
08 | USS Robinson (DD-88) | Wickes | 1918 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Newmarket. Broken up in 1945. |
09 | USS Ringgold (DD-89) | Wickes | 1918 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Newark. Broken up in 1947. |
10 | USS Fairfax (DD-93) |
Wickes | 1917 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Richmond. To USSR in 1944. Renamed Zhivuchiy ("Tenacious"). Broken up in 1949. |
11 | USS Williams (DD-108) | Wickes | 1918 | To Canada. Renamed HMCS St. Clair. Foundered in 1946. |
12 | USS Twiggs (DD-127) | Wickes | 1918 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Leamington. To USSR in 1944. Renamed Zhguchiy ("Firebrand"). Recreated the St. Nazaire raid in the Trevor Howard film Gift Horse. Broken up in 1951. |
13 | USS Buchanan (DD-131) | Wickes | 1919 | To Britain. Renamed St. Nazaire Raid on March 28, 1942.
|
14 | USS Aaron Ward (DD-132) | Wickes | 1919 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Castleton. Broken up in 1947. |
15 | USS Hale (DD-133) | Wickes | 1919 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Caldwell. Broken up in 1944. |
16 | USS Crowninshield (DD-134) |
Wickes | 1919 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Chelsea. To USSR in 1944. Renamed Derzkiy ("Ardent"). Broken up in 1949. |
17 | USS Tillman (DD-135) | Wickes | 1919 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Wells. Broken up in 1945. |
18 | USS Claxton (DD-140) | Wickes | 1919 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Salisbury. Broken up in 1944. |
19 | USS Yarnall (DD-143) | Wickes | 1918 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Lincoln. To Canada in 1942. Renamed HMCS Lincoln. To USSR in 1944. Renamed Druzhny ("United"). Last one to be broken up, in 1952. |
20 | USS Thatcher (DD-162) | Wickes | 1918 | To Canada. Renamed HMCS Niagara. Broken up in 1946. |
21 | USS Cowell (DD-167) | Wickes | 1918 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Brighton. To USSR in 1944. Renamed Zharkiy ("Zealous"). Returned to Britain and broken up in 1949. |
22 | USS Maddox (DD-168) | Wickes | 1918 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Georgetown. To USSR in 1944. Renamed Doblestny ("Valiant"). Broken up in 1949. |
23 | USS Foote (DD-169) | Wickes | 1918 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Roxborough. To USSR in 1944. Renamed Zhostkiy ("Adamant"). Returned to Britain and broken up in 1949. |
24 | USS Kalk (DD-170) | Wickes | 1918 | To Canada. Renamed HMCS Hamilton. Broken up in 1945. |
25 | USS Mackenzie (DD-175) |
Wickes | 1918 | To Canada. Renamed HMCS Annapolis. Broken up in 1945. |
26 | USS Hopewell (DD-181) | Wickes | 1918 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Bath. Transferred to Norwegian navy April 1941. Sunk on August 19, 1941, by U-204. |
27 | USS Thomas (DD-182) | Wickes | 1918 | To Britain. Renamed HMS St. Albans. To USSR in 1944. Renamed Dostoyny ("Excellent"). Broken up in 1949. |
28 | USS Haraden (DD-183) | Wickes | 1918 | Initially to Britain and then on to Canada. Renamed HMS Columbia then HMCS Columbia. Broken up in 1945. |
29 | USS Abbot (DD-184) | Wickes | 1918 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Charlestown. Broken up in 1947. |
30 | USS Doran (DD-185) |
Wickes | 1918 | To Britain. Renamed HMS St. Marys. Broken up in 1945. |
31 | USS Satterlee (DD-190) | Clemson | 1918 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Belmont. Sunk by U-82 on January 31, 1942. |
32 | USS Mason (DD-191) | Clemson | 1919 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Broadwater. Sunk by U-101 on October 18, 1941. |
33 | USS Abel P Upshur (DD-193) |
Clemson | 1918 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Clare. Broken up in 1945. |
34 | USS Hunt (DD-194) | Clemson | 1920 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Broadway. Broken up in 1947. |
35 | USS Welborn C Wood (DD-195) |
Clemson | 1920 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Chesterfield. Broken up in 1947. |
36 | USS Branch (DD-197) | Clemson | 1919 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Beverley. Sunk by U-188 on April 11, 1943. |
37 | USS Herndon (DD-198) | Clemson | 1919 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Churchill. To USSR in 1944. Renamed Deyatelny ("Active"). Sank on January 16, 1945, in uncertain circumstances. |
38 | USS McCook (DD-252) | Clemson | 1919 | To Canada. Renamed HMCS St. Croix. Sunk by U-952 on September 20, 1943. |
39 | USS McCalla (DD-253) | Clemson | 1919 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Stanley. Sunk by U-574 on December 18, 1941. |
40 | USS Rodgers (DD-254) | Clemson | 1919 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Sherwood. Sunk as a target in 1945. |
41 | USS Bancroft (DD-256) | Clemson | 1919 | To Canada. Renamed HMCS St. Francis. Foundered in 1945 while en route to scrap yard. |
42 | USS Welles (DD-257) | Clemson | 1919 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Cameron. Damaged beyond repair in an air raid at Portsmouth on December 5, 1940. |
43 | USS Aulick (DD-258) | Clemson | 1919 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Burnham. Broken up in 1947. |
44 | USS Laub (DD-263) | Clemson | 1918 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Burwell. Broken up in 1947. |
45 | USS McLanahan (DD-264) | Clemson | 1918 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Bradford. Broken up in 1946. |
46 | USS Edwards (DD-265) | Clemson | 1918 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Buxton. To Canada in 1943. Renamed HMCS Buxton. Broken up in 1946. |
47 | USS Shubrick (DD-268) | Clemson | 1918 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Ripley. Broken up in 1945. |
48 | USS Bailey (DD-269) | Clemson | 1919 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Reading. Broken up in 1945. |
49 | USS Swasey (DD-273) | Clemson | 1919 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Rockingham. Struck a mine on September 27, 1944, and sank while under tow. |
50 | USS Meade (DD-274) | Clemson | 1919 | To Britain. Renamed HMS Ramsey. Broken up in 1947. |
See also
- Banff-class sloops similarly transferred to the Royal Navy in 1941.
- Tizard Mission
- Lend-Lease, a successor agreement loosely modelled on the Destroyers for Bases Agreement.
- Northeast Air Command for airfields in Newfoundland and Labrador
References
- ISBN 9780872499843.
- ISBN 978-0-15-678870-0, p. 438
- ^ ISBN 0-19-820626-7.
- ^ William R. Casto, "Advising Presidents: Robert Jackson and the Destroyers-For-Bases Deal." American Journal of Legal History 52.1 (2012): 1-135. online
- ^ Martin Gilbert, Churchill and America. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005.
- ^ Goodhart, Philip (1965). 50 Ships That Saved the World. New York: Doubleday. p. 175.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-58836-982-6.
- ISBN 0-394-58839-8.
- ^ Neary, 1985
- ^ States, United (June 24, 1973). "United States Treaties and Other International Agreements". Department of State – via Google Books.
- ^ "Planning to Protect our Bahamian Islands". Bahama Pundit. 10 December 2023.
- ^ "Seaworthy Publications, Inc. – Nautical Book Publisher". Archived from the original on March 13, 2013.
- ^ University, Sam Houston State. "Page Not Found: 404 | Sam Houston State University". SHSU Online. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013.
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Further reading
- Burns, James M. Roosevelt: the Lion and the Fox (1956), 437–52
- Casto, William R. "Advising Presidents: Robert Jackson and the Destroyers-For-Bases Deal." American Journal of Legal History 52.1 (2012): 1–135. online
- Conn, Stetson; Fairchild, Byron (1989) [1960]. The Framework of Hemisphere Defense (PDF). United States Army Center of Military History. pp. 51–62.
- Goodhart, Philip. Fifty Ships That Saved The World: The Foundation of the Anglo-American Alliance (London: Heinemann, 1965)
- Leutze, James R. Bargaining For Supremacy: Anglo-American Naval Collaboration, 1937-1941 (1977). online
- Neary, F. F. "Newfoundland and the Anglo‐American Leased Bases Agreement of 27 March 1941." Canadian Historical Review 67#4 (1986): 491–519.
- Pious, Richard M. "The Historical Presidency: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Destroyer Deal: Normalizing Prerogative Power." Presidential Studies Quarterly 42.1 (2012): 190–204.
- Reynolds, David. The Creation of the Anglo-American Alliance, 1937-41: A Study in Competitive Co-operation (Univ. of North Carolina Press, 1982), ch. 4 & 5; the standard scholarly history of the entire deal.
- Whitham, Charlie. "The thin end of the wedge: the British Foreign Office, the West Indies and avoiding the Destroyers-Bases Deal, 1938–1940." Journal of Transatlantic Studies 11#3 (2013): 234–248.
- Woodward, Llewellyn. British Foreign Policy in the Second World War (1962), pp 82–90
- ""The New Bases Acquired for old Destroyers"". Guarding the United States and its Outposts. United States Army Center of Military History. 2000 [1964]. CMH Pub 4-2. Archived from the original on 2007-12-25. Retrieved 2010-07-22.
- STRATEGY: Bases Chosen December 1940 Time article about the bases.
- Naval Bases constructed after the deal