File No. 841.857/41
The Ambassador in Germany (Gerard) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 25, 1.30 p.m.]
2930. My 2891.1 I have received further note from the Foreign Office reading as follows:
Berlin , September 23, 1915.
In supplement to the note of the 13th instant the undersigned has the honor to communicate the following to his excellency Mr. Gerard, Ambassador of the United States of America.
According to the investigation concluded in the meantime by the Admiralty Staff of the Imperial Navy it is now established with certainty that a German submarine is not concerned in the attack on the English passenger steamer Hesperian. On the other hand from quite reliable reports at hand here drifting mines were sighted after the Hesperian sank in the maritime area in question which are not of German origin.2
The undersigned requests his excellency the Ambassador to bring the above to the knowledge of the American Government and avails himself [etc.]
Von Jagow