Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, The Conference of Berlin (The Potsdam Conference), 1945, Volume II

J. C. S. Files

Combined Chiefs of Staff Minutes

Potsdam, July 21, 1945

top secret

1. Approval of the Minutes of the 198th Meeting of the Combined Chiefs of Staff, 21 July 1945

The Combined Chiefs of Staff:–

Approved the conclusions of the 198th Meeting and approved the detailed report, subject to any later minor amendments.

2. Employment of Captured Enemy Ocean-Going Passenger Shipping and British Troopship Employment in U. S. Trans-Atlantic Programs in the First Half of 1946
(C. C. S. 679/6, 679/7, 679/8, and 679/9²)

Sir Alan Brooke said that the British Chiefs of Staff had considered C. C. S. 679/9 and regretted that the amendments proposed by the United States Chiefs of Staff were not acceptable to the British Chiefs of Staff. It appeared to be the view of the United States Chiefs of Staff that if the seven captured German ships were moved to the Pacific they would be unable to make more than one trip before the 31st of December, 1945. If then, as a result of the review of the combined requirements and combined resources for the first half of 1946, it was decided that these seven captured ships should no longer be allocated to the United States, their initial assignment to the Pacific in 1945 would prove uneconomical. He said he appreciated the point of view of the United States Chiefs of Staff.

Sir Alan Brooke pointed out, however, that the very fact that these ships had been moved to the Pacific would be a strong argument for retaining them there. This argument would be weighed with all the other arguments when it came to the combined review which the British Chiefs of Staff had proposed in paragraph 6 of C. C. S. 679/8. To exclude these ships from the review at this stage seemed to the British Chiefs of Staff to be wrong.

Admiral King proposed that the Combined Chiefs of Staff accept C. C. S. 679/8, provided that the combined study on the lines suggested by the British Chiefs of Staff be undertaken as a firm commitment to be completed by mid-September.

The Combined Chiefs of Staff:—

a. Agreed to allocate the total lift of the seven ships listed in C. C. S. 679/6 for United States employment up to 31 December 1945.

b. Took note that the United States Chiefs of Staff would allocate to the United Kingdom a lift of 16,000 during the remainder of 1945 for the movement of Canadians.

c. Directed the Combined Military Transportation Committee, in collaboration with the Combined Shipping Adjustment Board, to submit by 15 September 1945 a report, on the lines of C. C. S. 679/1,³ of the combined requirements and combined resources (including captured enemy trooplift) for the first half of 1946, the study to cover the recommendation in paragraph 7 of C. C. S. 679/7 and the employment during the first half of 1946 of the seven ships listed in C. C. S. 679/6.

3. Provision of Personnel Ships for the Requirements of Allied Governments
(C. C. S. 897⁴)

The Combined Chiefs of Staff:—

Approved the memorandum in Enclosure “A” to C. C. S. 897, subject to amendments agreed in discussion, and directed that it be dispatched to the Combined Shipping Adjustment Board.⁵

4. Command in French Indo-China
(C. C. S. 890/3⁶)

The Combined Chiefs of Staff:—

Approved the recommendation in paragraph 3 of C. C. S. 890/3, and directed that the statement contained in that paragraph, as amended in discussion, be included in their final report to the President and Prime Minister.⁷

5. Report to the President and Prime Minister
(C. C. S. 900⁸)

The Combined Chiefs of Staff:—

Approved C. C. S. 900, as amended in discussion.⁹

6. Control of Allied Naval Units Other Than U. S. at Present Under Command of Seventh U. S. Fleet

The Combined Chiefs of Staff:—

Took note that upon the dissolution of the U. S. Seventh Fleet pursuant to the reallocation of areas and change in command in the Southwest Pacific, as proposed in C. C. S. 890/1,¹⁰ it was the intention of the Commander in Chief of the United States Fleet¹¹ to release to British control those Allied naval units other than U. S. at present incorporated in the U. S. Seventh Fleet.

2. Documents Nos. 1190, 1191, 1195, and 1196, post, respectively.
3. Not printed.
4. Document No. 1192, post.
5. For the text of this memorandum, as finally approved, see appendix E to document No. 1381, post.
6. Document No. 1271, post.
7. See document No. 1381, post, paragraph 14.
8. Not printed.
9. The draft report, as amended, was circulated on July 23 as the enclosure to C. C. S. 900/2. It is identical with the text of the report as approved on July 24 (document No. 1381, post) except as noted in the footnotes to that document and except that minor variations of punctuation, capitalization, and abbreviation have not been annotated.
10. Document No. 1267, post.
11. Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King.