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Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy - Ludwig von Mises ...

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U.S. Ties to Britain Strengthened 63<br />

<strong>The</strong> Undeclared Battle <strong>of</strong> the Atlantic<br />

Th e Germans had invaded <strong>and</strong> occupied Denmark on April 9,<br />

1940. Exactly one year later the United States assumed responsibility<br />

for the defense <strong>of</strong> Greenl<strong>and</strong>, then Danish territory.<br />

According to the April 9, 1941 agreement between the United<br />

States <strong>and</strong> Denmark, the defense <strong>of</strong> Greenl<strong>and</strong> “against attack<br />

by a non-American power is essential to the preservation <strong>of</strong> the<br />

peace <strong>and</strong> security <strong>of</strong> the American Continent.” 27<br />

FDR wrote Churchill on April 11 that he intended to have<br />

the United States lend still more active support to the hardpressed<br />

British in the Atlantic. To do this,<br />

We will want in great secrecy notifi cation <strong>of</strong> movements <strong>of</strong><br />

convoys so our patrol units can seek out any ships or planes<br />

<strong>of</strong> aggressor nations. . . . We will immediately make public to<br />

you position [<strong>of</strong> ] aggressor ships or planes when located in our<br />

patrol area. 28<br />

Th at same day, the fi rst U.S. shot was fi red against a German<br />

target in World War II, although apparently without hitting its<br />

mark. Th e U.S. destroyer Niblack had been en route from Halifax<br />

to Icel<strong>and</strong>, where she was to explore the convoying <strong>of</strong> ships to<br />

Icel<strong>and</strong>, which lay within the German submarine war zone. She<br />

responded to an SOS call from a Dutch freighter that was sinking<br />

after having been torpedoed by a German sub. Niblack picked<br />

up survivors. When soundings indicated a submarine in the area,<br />

Niblack dropped three depth charges, but no wreckage was seen. 29<br />

Th e president was reportedly furious when an account <strong>of</strong> this<br />

incident appeared in the press.<br />

27Department <strong>of</strong> State, Peace <strong>and</strong> War, p. 642; U.S. Congress, Events, p. 277.<br />

28 Loewenheim, et al., Roosevelt <strong>and</strong> Churchill: Th eir Secret Wartime Correspondence,<br />

p. 137.<br />

29 Patrick Abbazia, Mr. Roosevelt’s Navy: Th e Private War <strong>of</strong> the Atlantic Fleet,<br />

1939–1942 (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1975), pp. 191–96.

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