16 Friday
President Roosevelt, in a press conference, announces that the U.S. government is discussing with the British government the acquisition of naval and air bases to defend the Western Hemisphere and the Panama Canal. Secrecy, however, continues to shroud the ongoing discussions concerning the transfer of destroyers to the British.
U.S. Army transport American Legion departs Petsamo, Finland, for New York; on board is Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Martha of Norway and her three children, who have been invited to come to the United States by President Roosevelt. The last neutral ship permitted to leave Petsamo, American Legion also carries a crated twin-mount 40-millimeter Bofors gun “with standard sights . . . spare parts, and 3,000 rounds of ammunition.” Shipment of the gun, an almost Herculean effort that involved trucking the weapon the entire length of Sweden, has required the cooperation of the British, Swedish, and Finnish governments (see 28 August).
17 Saturday
German government establishes “total blockade” of the British Isles and warns that all ships will be sunk without warning.
Destroyers Walke (DD 416) and Wainwright (DD 419) depart Bahia, Brazil, for Pará, Brazil (see 21 August).
18 Sunday
President Roosevelt and Prime Minister W. L. MacKenzie King of Canada sign Ogdensburg Agreement, providing for Permanent Joint Board for the Defense of the United States and Canada (see 26 August).
21 Wednesday
Destroyers Walke (DD 416) and Wainwright (DD 419) reach Pará, Brazil (see 23 August).
22 Thursday
James V. Forrestal, former Administrative Assistant to the President and Wall Street broker, becomes first Undersecretary of the Navy. His office will become “the most important coordinating agency for procurement and materiel in the Navy Department.”
23 Friday
Heavy cruisers Wichita (CA 45) (Rear Admiral Andrew C. Pickens Commander, Cruiser Division 7, embarked) and Quincy (CA 39) arrive at Montevideo, Uruguay (see 28 August).
Destroyers Walke (DD 416) and Wainwright (DD 419) wind up their shakedown/goodwill cruise in Latin American waters, departing Pará, Brazil, for Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
26 Monday
Permanent Joint Board on Defense (United States and Canada), set up by President Roosevelt and Canadian Prime Minister W. L. MacKenzie King on 18 August, convenes in Ottawa, Canada. U.S. representatives are Fiorello H. LaGuardia (President, U.S. Conference of Mayors), Lieutenant General Stanley D. Embick, USA (Commanding Fourth Corps Area), Captain Harry W. Hill and Commander Forrest Sherman (War Plans Division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations), Lieutenant Colonel Joseph T. McNarney, USAAC, and John D. Hickerson (Assistant Chief, Division of European Affairs, Department of State).
27 Tuesday
President Roosevelt signs joint resolution authorizing him to call Army Reserve components and National Guard into federal service for one year.
Legislation is enacted authorizing the appointment of naval aviators of the Navy and Marine Corps Reserves to the line of the regular Navy and Marine Corps, in order to augment the Naval Academy as a source of regular aviators.
President Roosevelt confers with Secretary of the Navy William Franklin (Frank) Knox, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, and Secretary of State Cordell Hull concerning a compromise to resolve the impasse that has arisen over the proposed destroyers-for-bases agreement. Subsequently, Roosevelt meets with Admiral Harold R. Stark (Chief of Naval Operations), Secretary of the Navy Knox, Secretary of State Hull, and British Ambassador Lord Lothian; these men review the proposal arrived at earlier that day. Admiral Stark certifies that the destroyers involved are no longer essential to the defense of the United States, thus clearing the way for their transfer.
Attorney General Robert H. Jackson delivers to President Roosevelt a ruling in which the legal framework for the transfer of destroyers to the British can be accomplished.
28 Wednesday
Destroyers Biddle (DD 151) and Blakeley (DD 150) escort U.S. Army transport American Legion on the final leg of her voyage from Petsamo, Finland, to New York City. The 40-millimeter Bofors gun she carries among her cargo is subsequently shipped to the Naval Proving Ground at Dahlgren, Virginia.
Heavy cruisers Wichita (CA 45) (Rear Admiral Andrew C. Pickens) and Quincy (CA 39) depart Montevideo, Uruguay, for Buenos Aires, Argentina (see 29 August).
29 Thursday
Heavy cruisers Wichita (CA 45) (Rear Admiral Andrew C. Pickens) and Quincy (CA 39) reach Buenos Aires, Argentina (see 3 September).
Rear Admiral John Downes relieves Rear Admiral William C. Watts as Commandant Ninth Naval District and Commanding Officer Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois.
30 Friday
Rear Admiral Charles S. Freeman relieves Rear Admiral Edward B. Fenner as Commandant Thirteenth Naval District and Commandant Puget Sound (Washington) Navy Yard.
Vichy France consents to Japanese military occupation of ports, airfields, and railroads in northern Indochina.
31 Saturday
President Roosevelt calls 60,000 National Guardsmen into federal service.
SEPTEMBER
2 Monday
Secretary of State Cordell Hull and British Ambassador Lord Lothian exchange notes, concluding the agreement to trade destroyers for bases; the United States will provide, by executive agreement, 50 over-age (World War I Emergency Program) destroyers in return for 99-year leases on bases in the Bahamas, Antigua, St. Lucia, Trinidad, Jamaica, and British Guiana. The British will provide bases at Newfoundland and Bermuda as outright gifts.
3 Tuesday
President Roosevelt announces the “destroyers-for-bases” agreement; Commander Destroyers Atlantic Squadron (Captain Ferdinand L. Reichmuth) is placed in charge of the transfer operation.
Heavy cruisers Wichita (CA 45) (Rear Admiral Andrew C. Pickens) and Quincy (CA 39) depart Buenos Aires, Argentina, for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (see 6 September).
Light cruiser St. Louis (CL 49) sails from Norfolk, Virginia; embarked is an evaluation board, headed by Rear Admiral John W. Greenslade, which will evaluate base sites recently acquired from the British (see 5 September).
5 Thursday
Secretary of the Navy William Franklin (Frank) Knox and Commander Aircraft Scouting Force, Rear Admiral Arthur B. Cook, depart San Francisco, California, in XPB2Y-2 for Pearl Harbor, T.H. (see 6 September).
Light cruiser St. Louis (CL 49) arrives at Hamilton, Bermuda, with Greenslade Board embarked (see 8 September).
6 Friday
Destroyers Aaron Ward (DD 132), Buchanan (DD 131), Crowninshield (DD 134), Hale (DD 133), Abel P. Upshur (DD 193), Welborn C. Wood (DD 195), Herndon (DD 198), and Welles (DD 257) arrive at Halifax, Nova Scotia, along with destroyer Russell (DD 414), with Commander Destroyers Atlantic Squadron (Captain Ferdinand L. Reichmuth) embarked, and destroyer tender Denebola (AD 12). “By the long arm of coincidence” (as British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill puts it) the Royal Navy crews assigned to man the ships arrive simultaneously (see 9 September).22
Secretary of the Navy William Franklin (Frank) Knox and Commander Aircraft Scouting Force, Rear Admiral Arthur B. Cook, arrive at Pearl Harbor, T.H., in XPB2Y-2. Secretary Knox is visiting the fleet as it carries out operations in Hawaiian waters (see 9 September).
Heavy cruisers Wichita (CA 45) (Rear Admiral Andrew C. Pickens) and Quincy