0p-10-Dy.
 
 
 
               NAVY DEPARTMENT
     OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS 
                  WASHINGTON
 
 
                                        May 17, 1941.
 
Memorandum for the President:
 
     So far as I know only two people in the Navy Department 
know about this, my Aide and myself, and I am enjoining 
strict secrecy.
 
    Whether or not the Skipper did the right thing I admire 
his decision and guts and feel like patting him on the back. 
It takes no stretch of the imagination to consider that he 
was acting in pure self-defense against an oncoming enemy.
 
      It is my understanding that German submarines have 
instructions to "beat it" just as fast as theycan if they 
see a man-o-war coming over the horizon; their mission 
being only to attack shipping.