FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION |
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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE |
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WASHINGTON, D.C. |
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November 28, 1941 |
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| CONFIDENTIAL | ||
| Director of Naval Intelligence | ||
| Navy Department | ||
| Washington, D. C. | ||
| Dear Sir: | ||
| In connection with the investigation being conducted by the San Juan Office of this Bureau concerning the salvage libel suit which was filed in the Federal Court, San Juan, Puerto Rico, on November 18, 1941, by the United States Attorney on behalf of the cruiser U.S.S. Omaha and her crew, against the German motor ship Odenwald which was disguised as the S.S. Willmoto of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and which was captured and seized by the U.S.S. Omaha in Atlantic equatorial waters on November 6, 1941, this is to advise crew members of this vessel, upon being interviewed, informed that three Japanese naval airplanes escorted the M.S. Odenwald for three days after leaving Yokohama, Japan. | ||
| Ships papers fond in the cabins of the First and Second Officers revealed that a majority of the cargo aboard the Odenwald was transferred in Yokohama, Japan, from five other vessels of the German Merchant Marine. These vessels are the M.S. Ramses, M.S. Bogota, M.S. Quito, M.S. Rhakotis, and M.S. Osorno. | ||
| The papers recovered revealed that the M.S. Bogota loaded at Coquimbo, Chile on about June 15, 1941, and that its cargo was destined for Hamburg, Germany. The shippers in Chile are indicated as Staudt and Cia, and Walter Hegeler. The cargo loaded on this boat at Coquimbo, Chile, was transferred to the Odenwald at Yokohama, Japan on about July 31, 1941. | ||
| The M.S. Quito was loaded at Coquimbo, Chile on about May 18, 1941, its cargo being destined for Hamburg, Germany. Staudt and Cia and Walter Hegeler are again indicated as the shippers. The cargo loaded on this boat at Coquimbo was transferred to the Odenwald at Yokohama, Japan on about July 31, 1941. | ||
| The M.S. Osorno, according to the ship papers recovered, was loaded with a cargo of ore, wool, pigs' bristles, and miscellaneous items at Talcahuano, Chile, in about February, 1941, exact date unavailable at | ||
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| Director of Naval Intelligence - 2 - | ||
| the present time, and was destined for Hamburg, Germany. The shippers are indicated as Echavarri Hermanos; Wagner, Chadwick and Cia, Ltd.; and Stadut and Cia, Ltd. The cargo of this boat consisted of goods transferred from the M.S. Tacoma and the M.S. Portland in the Harbor of Talcahuano, Chile. A portion of the cargo of the M.S. Osorno was transferred to the Odenwald at Yokohama, Japan, about July 31, 1941. | ||
| Ship papers further indicate that the Odenwald also carried cargo which was transferred from the M.S. Rhakotis in Yokohama Harbor on about July 31, 1941. There is no information as to where the Rhakotis originally received its cargo. | ||
| The Odenwald also received cargo transferred from the M.S. Ramses in Yokohama Harbor on about August 20, 1941. Included in this transfer of cargo were 102 tons of Goodrich tires found aboard the Odenwald at the time of its seizure by the U.S.S. Omaha. There is no indication, according to the papers available, as to where the M.S. Ramses originally secured its cargo. Questioning of the crew members of the Odenwald indicates that a portion of the cargo secured by the M.S. Ramses was picked up in Shanghai. | ||
| I thought you would be interested in the above information, particularly in view of the fact that vessels of the German Merchant Marine have been securing cargoes destined for Hamburg at the Ports of Coquimbo and Talcahuano, Chile. Arrangements have been made to develop further information concerning movement of German vessels from these ports, the results of which will be furnished you immediately upon receipt of same by this Bureau. | ||
| Very truly yours, | ||
| /s/ J. E. Hoover | ||
| John Edgar Hoover | ||
| Director | ||
| BY SPECIAL MESSENGER | ||
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