893.34/5–2344
Memorandum by the Director of the Office of Far Eastern Affairs (Grew)62
At the request of Admiral King,63 Captain Daniel, United States Navy, called on me this morning to discuss the question of the desire of the Chinese Government to obtain, under Lend-Lease, four destroyers and four mine layers, and I communicated to him orally the substance and the various points of the appended memorandum from Mr. Vincent64 which represents the views of the Office of Far Eastern Affairs. I said to Captain Daniel that I was not communicating these points as a formal statement of policy, but rather as an informal expression of views. Captain Daniel replied that this was just what his department desired and that he would report our conversation to Admiral King. He implied that these views coincided with the views of the Navy.
In the course of the conversation, I said that it was my understanding that the Chinese naval officers who would take over the desired ships would not graduate until 1945, and it therefore would not appear that the request of the Chinese Government need be regarded as a matter of great urgency. I said that incidentally I had met and talked to the class of Chinese naval officers now studying at Swarthmore, [Page 79] and that I found them to be a group of high type young men and that their reputation at Swarthmore College was excellent.