The Evening Star (January 23, 1946)
Nazi fleet remnants divided among U.S., Britain and Russia
LONDON (AP) – Remnants of the German fleet, once a powerful factor in world affairs, have been divided among the victorious Big Three – Britain, Russia and the United States.
“Operable surface units” of the Nazi Navy, amounting to 1,759 vessels, together with 30 submarines, are being split up on a share and share alike basis, a tripower communique said last night.
The action leaves Germany without the vestige of a combat fleet. A British source said the German merchant fleet also would be divided up later, although fishing vessels will not be taken.
Involved in the split-up were two cruisers, 30 destroyers and torpedo boats, 48 torpedo ships and 1,670 other units, including minesweepers and harbor patrol boats. All of Germany’s battleships were sunk during the war, and the British disclosed last night that 100 surrendered German U-boats were scuttled last November.
Each nation, in addition to 10 submarines, will receive:
UNITED STATES: The 10,000-ton cruiser Prinz Eugen, seven destroyers and torpedo boats, 12 depot ship and 560 other units.
In Washington, State Department officials said they could give no indication when the identity of the ships allotted would be announced. The Prinz Eugen, en route to Boston for what the Navy Department described as experimentation, yesterday was reported speeding to the assistance of the troopship Frederick C. Hicks 1,000 miles east of New York. Later the Hicks said she was proceeding to Boston at good speed and would not require assistance.
RUSSIA: The 6,000-ton cruiser Nuernberg, 10 destroyers and torpedo boats, 15 depot ships and 507 other units.
BRITAIN: Thirteen destroyers and torpedo boats, 21 depot ships and 612 other units.
Negotiations are under way on the United Kingdom’s offer to transfer to the French some of the units allotted to Britain, the British announced.
The decision to split up the German Navy was reached at the Potsdam Conference, the communique said, and a tripartite naval commission appointed to implement the decision recently submitted its report.