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Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

British Admiralty to Commodore Guy R. Gaunt, British Naval Attaché at Washington, D. C.

TELEGRAM.                          No.

From                          Date 29.5.17 [i.e., May 29, 1917]

To   Naval Attache Washington

Your 751

Admiralty have 3,600 tons Welsh coal at St. Michaels Wharf2 786 feet long depth 19 to 24 feet. There are about 40 overall lighters3 aggregating 800 tons capacity. Owing to lack of tonnage Admiralty do not propose to replenish stock at St Michaels.

No objection to U.S making use of Admiralty stock. Commercial stocks at Azores are very low[.] Amounts available will be telegraphed later.4

Source Note: Cy, UK-KeNA, Adm. 137/655. The copy is done on a printed form. The words in bold and “Date” are printed. Below the close is a columnar routing list of those to see this copy, the list includes: “1SL/DOD/DMD/D of S.” These are, in order, First Sea Lord Adm. Sir John R. Jellicoe; Director, Operations Division Adm. Thomas Jackson; Director, Mobilisation Division, Adm. Henry F. Oliver; and possibly Director of Signals Division, Capt. Christopher R. Payne.

Footnote 1: See, Gaunt to British Admiralty, 27 May 1917, UK-KeNA, Adm. 137/655. In this cable, Gaunt forwarded a request from the U.S. Navy Department requesting information on “coal available in Azores,” which the Navy might require “for a considerable move.”  Ibid. The United States Navy was planning to re-coal armed yachts bound for France at the Azores. See: Josephus Daniels to William B. Fletcher, 1 June 1917.

Footnote 2: São Miguel (St. Michael) is the largest and most populous island in the Azores.

Footnote 3: Lighters were large flat-bottomed barges.

Footnote 4: This cable has not been found.

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