Memorandum from Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy to the Joint Chiefs of Staff

enomert 9 August 1945 \ r MEMORANDUM FOR The Joint Chiefs of Staff: The following principles for the distribution of the German Navy were agreed upon at the Potsdam Conference: 1. The total strength of the German surface navy, excluding ships sunk and those taken over from Allied Nations, but including ships under construction or repair, shall be divided equally among the U.S.S.R, U.K., and U.S. 2. Ships under construction or repair mean those ships whose construction or repair may be completed within three to six months, according to the type of ship. Whether such ships under construction or repair shall be completed or repaired shall be determined by the technical commission appointed by the Three Powers and referred to below, subject to the principle that their completion or repair must be achieved within the time limits above provided, without any increase of skilled employment in the German shipyards and without permitting the reopening of any German shipbuilding or connected industries. Completion date means the date when a ship is able to go out on its first trip, or under peace-time standards, would refer to the customary date of ARCHIVES SERVICE" NATIONAL (ECORDS TRONAS AND delivery by shipyard to the Government. v 3. The larger part of the derman submarine fleet shall be sunk, Not more than thirty submarines shall be preserved and divided equally between the U.S.S.R, U.K., and U.S. for experimental and technical purposes. 4. All stocks of armament, ammunition and supplies of the German Navy appertaining to the vessels transferred pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 3 hereof, shall be handed over to the respective powers receiving such ships. - 1 - DECLASSIFIED JCS Memo, Jan. 17, 1973 By NLT-HK NARS, Date 6-29-76