Jump to content

Destroyers-for-bases deal: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
 
Added citation needed
Tags: Visual edit Mobile edit Mobile web edit
 
(475 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{short description|1940 agreement between the US and UK}}
The '''Destroyers for Bases Agreement''' between the [[United States]] and the [[United Kingdom]] transferred 50 destroyers from the [[United States Navy]] in exchange for land rights on British possessions.
{{More citations needed|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox treaty
|name=Destroyers-for-bases deal
|long_name=
|image= Angielska flota wojenna pdczas wpływania do portu (2-2620).jpg
|image_width= 250px
|caption= Transferred destroyers sailing into British port, October 1940
|type=
|date_drafted=
|date_signed= 2 September 1940
|location_signed=
|date_sealed=
|date_effective=
|condition_effective=
|date_expiration=
|signatories=
* {{flagicon|United States}} [[Franklin Roosevelt]]
* {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Winston Churchill]]
|parties=
* {{flag|United States}}
* {{flag|United Kingdom}}
|ratifiers=
|depositor=
|language=
|languages= English
|wikisource=
}}


The '''destroyers-for-bases deal''' was an agreement between the [[United States]] and the [[United Kingdom]] on September 2, 1940, according to which 50 {{sclass|Caldwell|destroyer|5}}, {{sclass|Wickes|destroyer|5}}, and {{sclass|Clemson|destroyer|5}}-class US Navy destroyers were transferred to the [[Royal Navy]] from the [[US Navy]] in exchange for land rights on [[British possessions]].
----------------
==Text of the Agreement==


Generally referred to as the "twelve hundred-ton type" (also known as "flush-deck", or "four-pipers" after their four [[funnel (ship)|funnel]]s), the destroyers became the British {{sclass2|Town|destroyer|4}} and were named after towns common to both countries.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Syrett|first1=David|title=The Defeat of the German U-boats: The Battle of the Atlantic|date=1994|publisher=Univ of South Carolina Press|isbn=9780872499843|page=[https://archive.org/details/defeatofgermanub00syre/page/10 10]|url=https://archive.org/details/defeatofgermanub00syre|url-access=registration}}</ref> US President [[Franklin Roosevelt]] used an [[executive agreement]], which does not require congressional approval. However, he came under heavy attack from antiwar Americans, who pointed out that the agreement violated the [[Neutrality Acts of the 1930s|Neutrality Acts]].<ref>Burns, James MacGregor (1956). Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox. Easton Press. {{ISBN|978-0-15-678870-0}}, p. 438</ref>
The [[United States Secretary of State]] ([[Cordell Hull]]) to the British Ambassador (Lothian)


== Background ==
Department of State
By late June 1940, France had surrendered to [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] and Italy. The [[British Empire]] and the [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] stood alone in warfare against Hitler and Mussolini.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}
Washington
[[September 2]], [[1940]].


The British [[Chiefs of Staff Committee]] concluded in May that if [[Battle of France|France collapsed]], "we do not think we could continue the war with any chance of success" without "full economic and financial support" from the [[United States]].{{r|reynolds1993}} The US government was sympathetic to Britain's plight, but US public opinion then overwhelmingly supported [[United States non-interventionism|isolationism]] to avoid involvement in "another European war". Reflecting that sentiment, the [[US Congress]] had passed the [[Neutrality Acts of 1930s|Neutrality Acts]] three years earlier, which banned the shipment or sale of arms from the US to any combatant nation. US President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] was further constrained by the upcoming [[1940 United States presidential election|1940 Presidential election]], as his critics sought to portray him as being pro-war. Legal advice from the [[US Justice Department]] stated that the transaction was legal.<ref>William R. Casto, "Advising Presidents: Robert Jackson and the Destroyers-For-Bases Deal." ''American Journal of Legal History'' 52.1 (2012): 1-135. [https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/ttu-ir/bitstream/handle/10601/1900/Advising%20Presidents%2C%20Robert%20Jackson%20and%20the.pdf?sequence=1 online]</ref>
Excellency:


By late May, the evacuation of British forces from [[Dunkirk]], [[France]], in [[Operation Dynamo]] caused the [[Royal Navy]] to need ships immediately, especially as it was now fighting the [[Battle of the Atlantic]] in which German [[U-boat]]s threatened the British supplies of food and of other resources essential to the war effort.
I have received your note of September 2, 1940, of which the text is as follows:


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 [[Philip Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian|Marquess of Lothian]], for an American lease of airfields on [[Trinidad]], [[Bermuda]] and [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]].<ref>Martin Gilbert, ''Churchill and America''. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005.</ref>
''I have the honour under instructions from His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to inform you that in view of the friendly and sympathetic interest of His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom in the national security of the United States and their desire to strengthen the ability of the United States to cooperate effectively with the other nations of the Americas in the defence of the Western Hemisphere, His Majesty's Government will secure the grant to the Government of the United States, freely and without consideration, of the lease for immediate Establishment and use of naval and air bases and facilities for entrance thereto and the operation and protection thereof, on the Avalon Peninsula and on the southern coast of Newfoundland, and on the east coast and on the Great Bay of Bermuda.


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.
''Furthermore, in view of the above and in view of the desire of the United States to acquire additional air and naval bases in the Caribbean and in British Guiana, and without endeavouring to place a monetary or commercial value upon the many tangible and intangible rights and properties involved, His Majesty's Government will make available to the United States for immediate establishment and use naval and air bases and facilities for entrance thereto and the operation and protection thereof, on the eastern side of the [[Bahamas]], the southern coast of [[Jamaica]], the western coast of [[Saint Lucia|St. Lucia]], the west coast of [[Trinidad]] in the [[Gulf of Paria]], in the island of [[Antigua]] and in [[British Guiana]] within fifty miles of Georgetown, in exchange for naval and military equipment and material which the United States Government will transfer to His Majesty's Government.


By August, while Britain was reaching a low point, US Ambassador [[Joseph P. Kennedy]] reported from London that a British surrender was "inevitable". Seeking to persuade Roosevelt to send the destroyers, Churchill warned Roosevelt ominously that if Britain were vanquished, its colonial islands close to American shores could become a direct threat to the US if they fell into German hands.
''All the bases and facilities referred to in the preceding paragraphs will be leased to the United States for a period of ninety- nine years, free from all rent and charges other than such compensation to be mutually agreed on to be paid by the United States in order to compensate the owners of private property for loss by expropriation or damage arising out of the establishment of the bases and facilities in question.


== Deal ==
''His Majesty's Government, in the leases to be agreed upon, will grant to the United States for the period of the leases all the rights, power, and authority within the bases leased, and within the limits of the territorial waters and air spaces adjacent to or in the vicinity of such bases, necessary to provide access to and defence of such bases, and appropriate provisions for their control.
Roosevelt approved the deal on the evening of August 30, 1940.<ref>{{Cite book|title=50 Ships That Saved the World|last=Goodhart|first=Philip|publisher=Doubleday|year=1965|location=New York|pages=175}}</ref> On September 2, 1940, as the [[Battle of Britain]] intensified, Secretary of State [[Cordell Hull]] signaled agreement to the transfer of the warships to the Royal Navy. On September 3, 1940, Admiral [[Harold Rainsford Stark|Harold Stark]] certified that the destroyers were not vital to US security. In exchange, the US was granted land in various [[British possessions]] for the establishment of naval or air bases with rent-free [[99-year lease]]s, on:
* [[Dominion of Newfoundland|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, Guyana|Georgetown]]


The agreement also granted the US air and naval base rights in:
''Without prejudice to the above-mentioned rights of the United States authorities and their jurisdiction within the leased areas, the adjustment and reconciliation between the jurisdiction of the authorities of the United States within these areas and the jurisdiction of the authorities of the territories in which these areas are situated, shall be determined by common agreement.
* The [[Great Sound, Bermuda|Great Sound]] and [[Castle Harbour, Bermuda|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.
''The exact location and bounds of the aforesaid bases, the necessary seaward, coast and anti-aircraft defences, the location of sufficient military garrisons, stores and other necessary auxiliary facilities shall be determined by common agreement. His Majesty's Government are prepared to designate immediately experts to meet with experts of the United States for these purposes. Should these experts be unable to agree in any particular situation, except in the case of Newfoundland and Bermuda, the matter shall be settled by the Secretary of State of the United States and His Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.''


[[File:Wickes class destroyers before transfer to the UK 1940.JPG|thumb|American and British sailors examine depth charges. In the background are US {{sclass|Wickes|destroyer|1}}s before their transfer.]]
I am directed by the President to reply to your note as follows: The Government of the United States appreciates the declarations and the generous action of His Majesty's Government as contained in your communication which are destined to enhance the national security of the United States and greatly to strengthen its ability to cooperate effectively with the other nations of the Americas in the defense of the Western Hemisphere. It therefore gladly accepts the proposals.


Both the [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) and the [[Fleet Air Arm]] (FAA) maintained air stations in Bermuda at the start of the war, but they served only flying boats. The [[Royal Air Force, Bermuda, 1939-1945|RAF station]] on [[Darrell's Island, Bermuda|Darrell's Island]] served as a staging point for trans-Atlantic flights by [[RAF Transport Command]] and [[RAF Ferry Command]], [[British Overseas Airways Corporation|BOAC]], and [[Pan-American World Airways|Pan-Am]] and hosted the [[Bermuda Flying School]], but it did not operate maritime patrols. The [[RNAS Boaz Island (HMS Malabar)|FAA station]] on [[Boaz Island, Bermuda|Boaz Island]] serviced aircraft based on vessels operating from or through the [[Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda|Royal Naval Dockyard]], but it attempted to maintain maritime patrols by using pilots from naval ships, RAF Darrell's Island, and the Bermuda Flying School.
The Government of the United States will immediately designate experts to meet with experts designated by His Majesty's Government to determine upon the exact location of the naval and air bases mentioned in your communication under acknowledgment.


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 [[Kindley Field]] after [[Field Kindley]], an American aviator who fought for Britain during World War I. RAF Transport Command relocated its operations to the airfield when it was completed in 1943, but RAF Ferry Command remained at Darrell's Island. The US Navy had established the [[Naval Air Station Bermuda Annex|Naval Operating Base]] at Bermuda's West End, a flying boat station from which maritime patrols were operated for the remainder of the war (the US Navy had actually begun operating such patrols from RAF Darrell's Island by using floatplanes and was waiting for their own base to become operational). The RAF and FAA facilities were closed after the war, which left only the US air bases in Bermuda. The Naval Operating Base ceased to be an air station in 1965, when its flying boats were replaced by [[Lockheed P-2 Neptune]]s operating from the [[Kindley Air Force Base]] (as the former US Army airfield had become). Those US air bases were in fact only two of several [[Military of Bermuda#Former US Bases In Bermuda|US military facilities]] that operated in Bermuda during the 20th century. In spite of the 99-year lease, the US abandoned many of the bases in 1949, and the remaining few were closed by 1995.
In consideration of the declarations above quoted, the Government of the United States will immediately transfer to His Majesty's Government fifty United States Navy' destroyers generally referred to as the twelve hundred-ton type.


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 [[funnel (ship)|funnel]]s). Forty-three ships initially went to the British Royal Navy and seven to the [[Royal Canadian Navy]]. In the [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] navies, the ships were renamed after towns and so were known as the "Town" class, but they had originally belonged to three classes (''Caldwell'', ''Wickes'', and ''Clemson''). Before the end of the war, nine others had also served with the Royal Canadian Navy. Five Towns were manned by [[Royal Norwegian Navy]] crews, with the survivors later returned to the Royal Navy. {{HMS|Campbeltown|I42|6}} was manned by [[Royal Netherlands Navy]] sailors before her assignment to the [[St. Nazaire Raid]]. Nine other destroyers were eventually transferred to the [[Soviet Navy]]. Six of the 50 destroyers were lost to [[U-boat]]s, and three others, including ''Campbeltown'', were destroyed in other circumstances.
Accept, Excellency, the renewed assurances of my highest consideration.


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 [[John Colville (civil servant)|John Colville]] compared it to the [[Interim Peace|USSR's relationship with Finland]]. The destroyers were [[United States Navy reserve fleets|in reserve]] from the massive US shipbuilding program during World War I, and many of the vessels required extensive overhaul because they had not been preserved properly while inactivated. One British admiral called them the "worst destroyers I had ever seen",{{r|olson2010}}{{failed verification|date=May 2024}} and only 30 were in service by May 1941.{{r|reynolds1993}} Churchill also disliked the deal, but his advisers persuaded him merely to tell Roosevelt:{{r|olson2010}} {{blockquote|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.<ref name="olson2010">{{cite book | title=Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood With Britain In Its Darkest, Finest Hour| url=https://archive.org/details/citizensoflondon0000olso| url-access=registration|publisher=Random House|pages=[https://archive.org/details/citizensoflondon0000olso/page/19 19–20]|author=Olson, Lynne|year=2010|isbn=978-1-58836-982-6}}</ref>}}
/s/''Cordell Hull''


Roosevelt responded by transferring ten [[Banff-class sloop|Lake-class]] [[Coast Guard cutter]]s to the Royal Navy in 1941. The [[United States Coast Guard]] vessels were ten years newer than the destroyers and had greater range, which made them more useful as anti-submarine convoy escorts.<ref>{{cite book|title=Hitler's U-Boat War, The Hunters 1939-1942|author=Blair, Clay|publisher=Random House|year=1996|isbn=0-394-58839-8|page=229}}</ref>
His Excellency
The Right Honorable The [[Marquess of Lothian]], C. H.,
British Ambassador.


The agreement was much more important for being the start of the [[Atlantic Charter|wartime Anglo-American partnership]]. Churchill said in the [[British Parliament]] that "these two great organisations of the English-speaking democracies, the British Empire and the United States, will have to be somewhat mixed up together in some of their affairs for mutual and general advantage".<ref name="reynolds1993">{{cite book|title=Churchill | publisher=Clarendon Press|author=Reynolds, David|year=1993|location=Oxford|pages=248, 250–251|chapter = Churchill in 1940: The Worst and Finest Hour|editor1=Blake, Robert B. |editor2=Louis, William Roger |isbn=0-19-820626-7}}</ref>


==Bases==
''Source: Naval Historical Center, in the public domain''
===Newfoundland===
<ref>Neary, 1985</ref>
[[File:NAS Argentia aerial view c1945.jpg|thumb|U.S. Navy Naval Station Argentia, Newfoundland]]
[[File:Fort Amherst, view from Signal Hill.jpg|thumb|Coastal artillery battery at Fort Amherst, Newfoundland]]
[[File:HQTrinidadNavalBase1944.jpg|thumb|Naval Base Trinidad at Carenage Bay]]

Army Air Force airfields:
* [[Pepperrell AFB|Pepperrell Airfield (later AFB)]] (closed August 1961; turned over to Canadian Forces as [[CFS St. John's]])
* [[Goose Air Force Base|Goose Bay Army Airfield (later Goose AFB)]] (turned over to Canadian Forces as [[CFB Goose Bay]], July 1976)
* [[Ernest Harmon Air Force Base|Stephenville Army Airfield (later Ernest Harmon AFB)]] (closed December 1966; now [[Stephenville International Airport]])
* [[Naval Station Argentia#Fort McAndrew|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 defence and fortification|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]] [[United States general surveillance radar stations|General Surveillance]] Ground Radar stations:
* [[Allan's Island Radar Station|Allan's Island]]; [[Cape Spear#Radar Station|Cape Spear]]; [[Elliston Ridge Air Station|Elliston Ridge]]; [[Fogo Island Radar Station|Fogo Island]]; [[St. Bride's Radar Station|St. Bride's]] radar stations (closed 1945)

===British West Indies===
* [[Antigua]]
: Naval Air Station Crabbs at [[Crabbs Peninsula]]
: An Army Air Force airfield ([[VC Bird International Airport|Coolidge Army Airfield (later AFB)]]) (closed 1949)
* [[The Bahamas]]
: Naval seaplane base on [[Exuma]] Island at [[George Town, Bahamas|George Town]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uYSPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA3688|title=United States Treaties and Other International Agreements|first=United|last=States|date=June 24, 1973|publisher=Department of State|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bahamapundit.com/2011/07/planning-to-protect-our-bahamian-islands.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718160336/http://www.bahamapundit.com/2011/07/planning-to-protect-our-bahamian-islands.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=July 18, 2011|title=Planning to Protect our Bahamian Islands|website=Bahama Pundit|date=10 December 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://seaworthy.com/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130313081150/http://www.seaworthy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=456&Itemid=471&showall=1|url-status=dead|title=Seaworthy Publications, Inc. – Nautical Book Publisher|archivedate=March 13, 2013}}</ref>
* [[British Guiana]]
: An Army Air Force airfield ([[Cheddi Jagan International Airport|Atkinson Aerodrome (later AFB)]]) (closed 1949)
: A Naval seaplane base near [[Suddie]], [[NAF British Guiana]]
* [[Barbados]]
: [[SOSUS|NAVFAC]] Harrison's Point, [[Saint Lucy, Barbados|Saint Lucy]] (closed 1979)
* [[Bermuda]]
: 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 [[Naval Air Station Bermuda Annex|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.
* [[Jamaica]]
: An Army Air Force airfield ([[Vernam Air Force Base|Vernam Army Airfield (later AFB)]]) (closed 1949)
: A Naval Air Station ([[Little Goat Island]]) and a Naval facility at [[Port Royal]]
* [[Saint Lucia]]
: An Army Air Force airfield ([[Hewanorra International Airport|Beane Army Airfield (later AFB)]]) (closed 1949)
: A Naval Air Station (Gros Islet Bay) [[NAF St. Lucia]]
* [[Trinidad]]
: [[Naval Base Trinidad]], Major base 1941 to 1977
: Two Army Air Force airfields
:: [[Waller Air Force Base|Waller Army Airfield (later AFB)]] (closed 1949)
:: [[Carlsen Air Force Base|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<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.shsu.edu/home/404.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927222102/http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/IntNav.html|url-status=dead|title=Page Not Found: 404 &#124; Sam Houston State University|first=Sam Houston State|last=University|archivedate=September 27, 2013|website=SHSU Online}}</ref>

==Ships==
A total of 50 ships were reassigned: 3 ''Caldwell''-class, 27 ''Wickes''-class and 20 ''Clemson''-class destroyers.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! No !! Name !! Class !! Year of launch !! Service history and fate
|-
|01||[[USS Craven (DD-70)|USS ''Craven'' (DD-70)]]||Caldwell||1918||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Lewes''. Scuttled on October 12, 1945.
|-
|02||[[USS Conner (DD-72)|USS ''Conner'' (DD-72)]]||Caldwell||1917||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Leeds''. Broken up in 1947.
|-
|03||[[USS Stockton (DD-73)|USS ''Stockton'' (DD-73)]]||Caldwell||1917||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Ludlow''. Sunk as a target in 1945.
|-
|04||[[USS Wickes (DD-75)|USS ''Wickes'' (DD-75)]]||Wickes||1918||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Montgomery''. Broken up in 1945.
|-
|05||[[USS Philip (DD-76)|USS ''Philip'' (DD-76)]]||Wickes||1918||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Lancaster''. Broken up in 1947.
|-
|06||[[USS Evans (DD-78)|USS ''Evans'' (DD-78)]]||Wickes||1918||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Mansfield''. Broken up in 1945.
|-
|07||[[USS Sigourney (DD-81)|USS ''Sigourney'' (DD-81)]]||Wickes||1917||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Newport''. Broken up in 1947.
|-
|08||[[USS Robinson (DD-88)|USS ''Robinson'' (DD-88)]]||Wickes||1918||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Newmarket''. Broken up in 1945.
|-
|09||[[USS Ringgold (DD-89)|USS ''Ringgold'' (DD-89)]]||Wickes||1918||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Newark''. Broken up in 1947.
|-
|10||[[USS Fairfax (DD-93)|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)|USS ''Williams'' (DD-108)]]||Wickes||1918||To Canada. Renamed HMCS ''St. Clair''. Foundered in 1946.
|-
|12||[[USS Twiggs (DD-127)|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 (film)|''Gift Horse'']]. Broken up in 1951.
|-
|13||[[USS Buchanan (DD-131)|USS ''Buchanan'' (DD-131)]]||Wickes||1919||To Britain. Renamed [[HMS Campbeltown (I42)|HMS ''Campbeltown'']]. Intentionally destroyed in the [[St. Nazaire Raid]] on March 28, 1942.
|-
|14||[[USS Aaron Ward (DD-132)|USS ''Aaron Ward'' (DD-132)]]||Wickes||1919||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Castleton''. Broken up in 1947.
|-
|15||[[USS Hale (DD-133)|USS ''Hale'' (DD-133)]]||Wickes||1919||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Caldwell''. Broken up in 1944.
|-
|16||[[USS Crowninshield (DD-134)|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)|USS ''Tillman'' (DD-135)]]||Wickes||1919||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Wells''. Broken up in 1945.
|-
|18||[[USS Claxton (DD-140)|USS ''Claxton'' (DD-140)]]||Wickes||1919||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Salisbury''. Broken up in 1944.
|-
|19||[[USS Yarnall (DD-143)|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)|USS ''Thatcher'' (DD-162)]]||Wickes||1918||To Canada. Renamed HMCS ''Niagara''. Broken up in 1946.
|-
|21||[[USS Cowell (DD-167)|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)|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)|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)|USS ''Kalk'' (DD-170)]]||Wickes||1918||To Canada. Renamed HMCS ''Hamilton''. Broken up in 1945.
|-
|25||[[USS Mackenzie (DD-175)|USS ''Mackenzie'' (DD-175)]]||Wickes||1918||To Canada. Renamed HMCS ''Annapolis''. Broken up in 1945.
|-
|26||[[USS Hopewell (DD-181)|USS ''Hopewell'' (DD-181)]]||Wickes||1918||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Bath''. Transferred to Norwegian navy April 1941. Sunk on August 19, 1941, by [[German submarine U-204|U-204]].
|-
|27||[[USS Thomas (DD-182)|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)|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)|USS ''Abbot'' (DD-184)]]||Wickes||1918||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Charlestown''. Broken up in 1947.
|-
|30||[[USS Doran (DD-185)|USS ''Doran'' (DD-185)]]||Wickes||1918||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''St. Marys''. Broken up in 1945.
|-
|31||[[USS Satterlee (DD-190)|USS ''Satterlee'' (DD-190)]]||Clemson||1918||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Belmont''. Sunk by [[German submarine U-82 (1941)|U-82]] on January 31, 1942.
|-
|32||[[USS Mason (DD-191)|USS ''Mason'' (DD-191)]]||Clemson||1919||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Broadwater''. Sunk by [[German submarine U-101 (1940)|U-101]] on October 18, 1941.
|-
|33||[[USS Abel P. Upshur (DD-193)|USS ''Abel P Upshur'' (DD-193)]]||Clemson||1918||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Clare''. Broken up in 1945.
|-
|34||[[USS Hunt (DD-194)|USS ''Hunt'' (DD-194)]]||Clemson||1920||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Broadway''. Broken up in 1947.
|-
|35||[[USS Welborn C. Wood (DD-195)|USS ''Welborn C Wood'' (DD-195)]]||Clemson||1920||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Chesterfield''. Broken up in 1947.
|-
|36||[[USS Branch (DD-197)|USS ''Branch'' (DD-197)]]||Clemson||1919||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Beverley''. Sunk by [[German submarine U-188|U-188]] on April 11, 1943.
|-
|37||[[USS Herndon (DD-198)|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)|USS ''McCook'' (DD-252)]]||Clemson||1919||To Canada. Renamed HMCS ''St. Croix''. Sunk by [[German submarine U-952|U-952]] on September 20, 1943.
|-
|39||[[USS McCalla (DD-253)|USS ''McCalla'' (DD-253)]]||Clemson||1919||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Stanley''. Sunk by [[German submarine U-574|U-574]] on December 18, 1941.
|-
|40||[[USS Rodgers (DD-254)|USS ''Rodgers'' (DD-254)]]||Clemson||1919||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Sherwood''. Sunk as a target in 1945.
|-
|41||[[USS Bancroft (DD-256)|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)|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)|USS ''Aulick'' (DD-258)]]||Clemson||1919||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Burnham''. Broken up in 1947.
|-
|44||[[USS Laub (DD-263)|USS ''Laub'' (DD-263)]]||Clemson||1918||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Burwell''. Broken up in 1947.
|-
|45||[[USS McLanahan (DD-264)|USS ''McLanahan'' (DD-264)]]||Clemson||1918||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Bradford''. Broken up in 1946.
|-
|46||[[USS Edwards (DD-265)|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)|USS ''Shubrick'' (DD-268)]]||Clemson||1918||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Ripley''. Broken up in 1945.
|-
|48||[[USS Bailey (DD-269)|USS ''Bailey'' (DD-269)]]||Clemson||1919||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Reading''. Broken up in 1945.
|-
|49||[[USS Swasey (DD-273)|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)|USS ''Meade'' (DD-274)]]||Clemson||1919||To Britain. Renamed HMS ''Ramsey''. Broken up in 1947.
|-
|}

== See also ==
{{Portal|United Kingdom|United States|Politics}}
* [[Banff-class sloop]]s, 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 (island)|Newfoundland]] and [[Labrador]]
* [[Town-class destroyer]], some of which were transferred to [[Soviet Navy]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==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. [https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/ttu-ir/bitstream/handle/10601/1900/Advising%20Presidents%2C%20Robert%20Jackson%20and%20the.pdf?sequence=1 online]
* {{cite book | last = Conn | first = Stetson | author2 = Fairchild, Byron | title = The Framework of Hemisphere Defense | publisher = [[United States Army Center of Military History]] | url = https://history.army.mil/html/books/004/4-1/CMH_Pub_4-1.pdf | year = 1989 | orig-year = 1960 | pages = 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). [https://www.questia.com/read/24675619/bargaining-for-supremacy-anglo-american-naval-collaboration 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
* {{cite book|chapter-url = http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/Guard-US/ch14.htm|chapter = "The New Bases Acquired for old Destroyers"|title = Guarding the United States and its Outposts|url = http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/Guard-US/index.htm#contents|id = CMH Pub 4-2|year = 2000|orig-year = 1964|publisher = [[United States Army Center of Military History]]|access-date = 2010-07-22|archive-date = 2007-12-25|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071225041653/http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/Guard-US/index.htm#contents|url-status = dead}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080731042749/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,772458,00.html STRATEGY: Bases Chosen] December 1940 ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' article about the bases.
* [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Building_Bases/bases-18.html Naval Bases constructed after the deal]

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070430005310/http://history.navy.mil/faqs/faq59-24.htm Text of the agreement]
* [http://projects.ilt.columbia.edu/antigua/base/Article About the bases in Antigua]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/timeline/factfiles/nonflash/a1138420.shtml?sectionId=2&articleId=1138420 Article in the BBC about the agreement]

{{Franklin D. Roosevelt}}
{{USAAF 6th Air Force World War II}}
{{USWWII}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Destroyers For Bases Agreement}}
[[Category:United States Navy in the 20th century]]
[[Category:History of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:World War II treaties]]
[[Category:United Kingdom–United States treaties]]
[[Category:United States–Caribbean relations]]
[[Category:Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt]]
[[Category:Bermuda in World War II]]
[[Category:United Kingdom in World War II]]
[[Category:United Kingdom–United States military relations]]
[[Category:Treaties concluded in 1940]]
[[Category:Treaties entered into force in 1940]]
[[Category:Newfoundland in World War II]]

Latest revision as of 09:50, 20 October 2024

Destroyers-for-bases deal
Transferred destroyers sailing into British port, October 1940
Signed2 September 1940
Signatories
Parties
LanguagesEnglish

The destroyers-for-bases deal was an agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom on September 2, 1940, according to which 50 Caldwell, Wickes, and Clemson-class US Navy destroyers were transferred to the Royal Navy from the US Navy in exchange for land rights on British possessions.

Generally referred to as the "twelve hundred-ton type" (also known as "flush-deck", or "four-pipers" after their four funnels), the destroyers became the British Town class and were named after towns common to both countries.[1] US President Franklin Roosevelt used an executive agreement, which does not require congressional approval. However, he came under heavy attack from antiwar Americans, who pointed out that the agreement violated the Neutrality Acts.[2]

Background

[edit]

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.[citation needed]

The British Chiefs of Staff Committee concluded in May that if France collapsed, "we do not think we could continue the war with any chance of success" without "full economic and financial support" from the United States.[3] The US government was sympathetic to Britain's plight, but US public opinion then overwhelmingly supported isolationism to avoid involvement in "another European war". Reflecting that sentiment, the US Congress had passed the Neutrality Acts three years earlier, which banned the shipment or sale of arms from the US to any combatant nation. US President Franklin D. Roosevelt was further constrained by the upcoming 1940 Presidential election, as his critics sought to portray him as being pro-war. Legal advice from the US Justice Department stated that the transaction was legal.[4]

By late May, the evacuation of British forces from Dunkirk, France, in Operation Dynamo caused the Royal Navy to need ships immediately, especially as it was now fighting the Battle of the Atlantic in which German U-boats threatened the British supplies of food and of other resources essential to the war effort.

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 Joseph P. Kennedy reported from London that a British surrender was "inevitable". Seeking to persuade Roosevelt to send the destroyers, Churchill warned Roosevelt ominously that if Britain were vanquished, its colonial islands close to American shores could become a direct threat to the US if they fell into German hands.

Deal

[edit]

Roosevelt approved the deal on the evening of August 30, 1940.[6] On September 2, 1940, as the Battle of Britain intensified, Secretary of State Cordell Hull signaled agreement to the transfer of the warships to the Royal Navy. On September 3, 1940, Admiral Harold Stark certified that the destroyers were not vital to US security. In exchange, the US was granted land in various British possessions for the establishment of naval or air bases with rent-free 99-year leases, on:

The agreement also granted the US air and naval base rights in:

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.

American and British sailors examine depth charges. In the background are US Wickes-class destroyers before their transfer.

Both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) maintained air stations in Bermuda at the start of the war, but they served only flying boats. The RAF station on Darrell's Island served as a staging point for trans-Atlantic flights by RAF Transport Command and RAF Ferry Command, BOAC, and Pan-Am and hosted the Bermuda Flying School, but it did not operate maritime patrols. The FAA station on Boaz Island serviced aircraft based on vessels operating from or through the Royal Naval Dockyard, but it attempted to maintain maritime patrols by using pilots from naval ships, RAF Darrell's Island, and the Bermuda Flying School.

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 Kindley Field after Field Kindley, an American aviator who fought for Britain during World War I. RAF Transport Command relocated its operations to the airfield when it was completed in 1943, but RAF Ferry Command remained at Darrell's Island. The US Navy had established the Naval Operating Base at Bermuda's West End, a flying boat station from which maritime patrols were operated for the remainder of the war (the US Navy had actually begun operating such patrols from RAF Darrell's Island by using floatplanes and was waiting for their own base to become operational). The RAF and FAA facilities were closed after the war, which left only the US air bases in Bermuda. The Naval Operating Base ceased to be an air station in 1965, when its flying boats were replaced by Lockheed P-2 Neptunes operating from the Kindley Air Force Base (as the former US Army airfield had become). Those US air bases were in fact only two of several US military facilities that operated in Bermuda during the 20th century. In spite of the 99-year lease, the US abandoned many of the bases in 1949, and the remaining few were closed by 1995.

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 funnels). Forty-three ships initially went to the British Royal Navy and seven to the Royal Canadian Navy. In the Commonwealth navies, the ships were renamed after towns and so were known as the "Town" class, but they had originally belonged to three classes (Caldwell, Wickes, and Clemson). Before the end of the war, nine others had also served with the Royal Canadian Navy. Five Towns were manned by Royal Norwegian Navy crews, with the survivors later returned to the Royal Navy. HMS Campbeltown was manned by Royal Netherlands Navy sailors before her assignment to the St. Nazaire Raid. Nine other destroyers were eventually transferred to the Soviet Navy. Six of the 50 destroyers were lost to U-boats, and three others, including Campbeltown, were destroyed in other circumstances.

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 John Colville compared it to the USSR's relationship with Finland. The destroyers were in reserve from the massive US shipbuilding program during World War I, and many of the vessels required extensive overhaul because they had not been preserved properly while inactivated. One British admiral called them the "worst destroyers I had ever seen",[7][failed verification] and only 30 were in service by May 1941.[3] Churchill also disliked the deal, but his advisers persuaded him merely to tell Roosevelt:[7]

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 Lake-class Coast Guard cutters to the Royal Navy in 1941. The United States Coast Guard vessels were ten years newer than the destroyers and had greater range, which made them more useful as anti-submarine convoy escorts.[8]

The agreement was much more important for being the start of the wartime Anglo-American partnership. Churchill said in the British Parliament that "these two great organisations of the English-speaking democracies, the British Empire and the United States, will have to be somewhat mixed up together in some of their affairs for mutual and general advantage".[3]

Bases

[edit]

Newfoundland

[edit]

[9]

U.S. Navy Naval Station Argentia, Newfoundland
Coastal artillery battery at Fort Amherst, Newfoundland
Naval Base Trinidad at Carenage Bay

Army Air Force airfields:

A Naval Air Station:

Coastal defense batteries:

United States Army General Surveillance Ground Radar stations:

British West Indies

[edit]
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 Suddie, 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

[edit]

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 HMS Campbeltown. Intentionally destroyed in the 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

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Syrett, David (1994). The Defeat of the German U-boats: The Battle of the Atlantic. Univ of South Carolina Press. p. 10. ISBN 9780872499843.
  2. ^ Burns, James MacGregor (1956). Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox. Easton Press. ISBN 978-0-15-678870-0, p. 438
  3. ^ a b c Reynolds, David (1993). "Churchill in 1940: The Worst and Finest Hour". In Blake, Robert B.; Louis, William Roger (eds.). Churchill. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 248, 250–251. ISBN 0-19-820626-7.
  4. ^ William R. Casto, "Advising Presidents: Robert Jackson and the Destroyers-For-Bases Deal." American Journal of Legal History 52.1 (2012): 1-135. online
  5. ^ Martin Gilbert, Churchill and America. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005.
  6. ^ Goodhart, Philip (1965). 50 Ships That Saved the World. New York: Doubleday. p. 175.
  7. ^ a b c Olson, Lynne (2010). Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood With Britain In Its Darkest, Finest Hour. Random House. pp. 19–20. ISBN 978-1-58836-982-6.
  8. ^ Blair, Clay (1996). Hitler's U-Boat War, The Hunters 1939-1942. Random House. p. 229. ISBN 0-394-58839-8.
  9. ^ Neary, 1985
  10. ^ States, United (June 24, 1973). "United States Treaties and Other International Agreements". Department of State – via Google Books.
  11. ^ "Planning to Protect our Bahamian Islands". Bahama Pundit. 10 December 2023. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  12. ^ "Seaworthy Publications, Inc. – Nautical Book Publisher". Archived from the original on March 13, 2013.
  13. ^ University, Sam Houston State. "Page Not Found: 404 | Sam Houston State University". SHSU Online. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)

Further reading

[edit]
  • 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
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Destroyers-for-bases_deal&oldid=1252211168"