USS Nashville’s Maiden voyage to Europe

[Geoff]

Brown’s account

The first draft of “Defying Gravity: The Parallel Universe of T. Townsend Brown” contains a chapter (‘The Golden Galleon’) which is primarily concerned with Townsend Brown’s 1938 voyage to Europe aboard the USS Nashville.
This chapter is centred on the account of events in Europe described in “A Short Autobiography” by T. Townsend Brown, as follows:

U.S. Navy - Trip to Europe on U.S. [sic] Nashville (Maiden Voyage):

Chamberlain was trying to stop Hitler - visited Stockholm, Sweden, Goteberg, [sic] Germany on U.S. [sic] Nashville on her maiden voyage. We listened to gun-fire of Germans at practice, getting ready for World War II. We were exposed to the German Navy while we were in the Baltic sea [sic], but no incidents occurred. We then went to Portsmouth, England. Of course, it was while we were there that the pending war became so hot we were told to leave for safety's sake, in dead of night - which we did. Before we left they loaded 50 million dollars worth of gold aboard. It was gold brought from London (Bank of England) and it arrived at ship side in 3 garbage trucks - no escort, motorcycles or convoy. We had it carried aboard and placed in the magazines of the ship. It was in ingots encased in wooden boxes. Each gold nugget [sic] in wooden box with numbers boldly stamped on each box. Each box worth 1/4 million and weighed so much it was all one man could do to carry it. One man was at the foot of gangway making entries in large ledger as it was unloaded from the trucks - a check-off-list - and another man with a similar ledger at the head of the elevator/conveyor which lowered the gold into the magazines. These two ledgers had to check. This gold was consigned to the Chase Manhattan Bank in New York.

We had barely returned from leave in London when we were on full alert and ordered to set sail immediately. Out in the Atlantic, South of Iceland, we ran into the tail of a hurricane up from the West Indies - with mountainous seas. The forward deck of the ship was 10 ft. underwater between waves!! The officers amused themselves by saying that this might be the "Golden Gallion" [sic] never to be discovered in water so deep, let alone salvaged.

The Nashville’s Maiden voyage to Europe:

I understand from the accounts that I have been able to piece together that on her Maiden voyage to Europe the USS Nashville visited the following ports in the order:

Cherbourg, France; [1]
Stockholm, Sweden; [2]
Gothenburg, Sweden (written Göteborg in Swedish); [3]
Portland, England;
Gravesend, England;
Portsmouth, England.



The Nashville’s visits to English ports were reported in various American provincial newspapers at the time.

Page 1 of the Oelwein Daily Register, 12th September 1938, has this:

United States cruiser Nashville steamed into Portland harbor today as Europe faced a climactic day in the Czechoslovak problem. The Nashville fired a 21-gun salute and the British battleship Royal Oak responded. It was a scheduled arrival for the Nashville and the cruiser Honolulu is due at Gravesend down the Thames from London Sept 22, also on a scheduled visit. But the movements of the crack American cruisers at this time lent emphasis to the persistent belief, despite deprecatory statements in the United States, that America is taking a strong and friendly role in support of Great Britain and France in their efforts to save Europe from war.

On the same day, Monday, 12th September, the English newspaper The Times reported [snips]:

Within a few hours of the arrival of the American cruiser Nashville at Portland today hundreds of American sailors were mingling with holidaymakers at Weymouth….
….Tonight the American naval officers were the guests of the officers of H.M.S. Osprey, the anti-submarine establishment at Portland, …..
…..Captain Wilson will spend Wednesday in London and the Nashville sails on Friday.

However, on Wednesday, 14th September, the Charleston Daily Mail reported [snips]:

Officers of the United States light cruiser Nashville rounded up their crew today and the vessel sailed from Portland to Gravesend, which is only 26 miles from London on the Thames….
…. it was believed here that the United States government wanted the Nashville near London in event Americans, of whom there are 12,447 in Great Britain, must be evacuated if war comes.

In his book, Fool-Proof Relations: The Search for Anglo-American Naval Cooperation during the Chamberlain Years, 1937-1940, Malcolm H. Murfett writes:

He [President Roosevelt] had agreed, for instance, to the sending of the U.S.S. Nashville and U.S.S. Honolulu to England to collect a substantial amount of gold from the Bank of England and return with it to New York. In the case of the Honolulu, its main purpose was to provide a means of evacuating American citizens if the Czech crisis turned to war. Whatever the primary function may have been, the visit of these two American ships was the source of some satisfaction to the British Government which regarded them as underlining Presidential support for the democracies at a critical time.

Portland to Gravesend is about 260 nautical miles, so the Nashville would almost certainly have arrived at Gravesend by Thursday, 15th September.


On Friday, 16th September, the Lowell Sun reported:

Three Lowell bluejackets are attached to the U S cruiser Nashville which has arrived at Gravesend, England to standby to evacuate Americans from Europe should war break out there.

The ‘Critical Past’ web site has four cine clips of Nashville’s visit to Gravesend, including one of Nashville’s sailors and marines arriving at Gravesend Pier to begin their shore leave. [4]

On the 17th September the Reno Evening Gazette reported white-capped American sailors from the cruiser Nashville snapping photos of No.10 Downing Street, London.

On Wednesday, 21st September, the Beatrice Daily Sun, reported:

United States light cruisers Nashville and Honolulu arrived unexpectedly today at Portsmouth. The officers did not disclose how long the cruisers would stay here nor what their future movements would be. The Nashville previously was at Gravesend while the Honolulu came from the United States.

On Thursday, 22nd September, the Corsicana Daily Sun, reported:

United States cruiser Nashville sailed for home tonight after a visit to English waters on a shakedown cruise. Her sister ship, the cruiser Honolulu, remained awaiting further orders.

Notes:

In an effort to avoid war in Europe, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain flew to Germany for meetings with Hitler on three occasions in the latter half of September 1938. [5]

Brown was wrong in placing “Goteberg” [sic], in Germany.
Gothenburg (written Göteborg in Swedish) is a major port and the second largest city in Sweden.

Brown was wrong in saying that after leaving the Baltic Sea “We then went to Portsmouth, England.”
As already noted, the contemporaneous newspaper reports show that after leaving the Baltic the Nashville’s next port of call was Portland, in Dorset, England, arriving on the 12th September. From there Nashville sailed to Gravesend.

Brown makes no mention of Nashville’s visit to Gravesend – where as already noted, the crew were granted shore leave during their six-day stay, with some visiting London, 26 miles away.

Nashville arrived in Portsmouth on the 21st September. There is documentary evidence that shows the gold was received the following day, the 22nd September.
John Carmichael who was in charge of the loading party has stated that the gold shipment had still not arrived by noon. [1]
The gold must therefore have been loaded that afternoon/early evening, for the Corsicana Daily Sun reported that the Nashville sailed for America that night.
As the crow flies, London is 65 miles away from Portsmouth.


Geoff

(To be continued)

[1] Book: Humble Heroes: How the USS Nashville CL43 Fought WWII by Steven Bustin.
ISBN-10: 1419658840

[2] Navy Cover USS Nashville, Stockholm, 3rd September 1938:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4434803/USS%20N ... ckholm.jpg

[3] Navy Cover USS Nashville, Göteborg / Gothenburg, 9th September 1938:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4434803/USS%20N ... teborg.jpg

[4] Critical Past web site:
http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675 ... rs-talking

[5] Neville Chamberlain:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neville_Chamberlain

[Geoff]

A bit about gold shipments - 1930 to 1940

In his book, British Finance, 1930-1940, Walter Albert Morton writes:

The trend of gold movements. British gold imports came predominantly from India, the gold-producing countries of the Empire, the Soviet Union, and, from 1932 to 1937, the weakening gold bloc countries. The gold mining countries shipped gold to be handled through the normal commercial channels. South Africa took consumption and capital goods in exchange and even imported new capital goods. The cause of the large movement from the gold mining countries is clear enough — increased gold production. From September 21, 1931, to September, 1938, the month when the inflow of gold into London was reversed, total imports exceeded exports by 105.49 million fine ounces. From September, 1938, to September, 1939, the outward movement was 58 million fine ounces. This outward movement was occasioned by large-scale capital movements caused by war fears and a heavy adverse balance of trade. Britain was responsible for about half the imports of the United States during the 1930 decade, in which the United States accumulated the largest monetary gold stock in history.

There is a statue outside Millbay Docks, Plymouth, England, which bears testament to such gold bullion shipments to the Unites States.
In the UK we obviously took the security of these shipments very seriously, going so far as to allocate one policeman to stand guard over the stacks of gold bars as they lay on the quayside awaiting loading aboard ship! [1]

Liverpool was another port from which gold was shipped across the Atlantic. For example, in 1938 the Cunard liner Ascania ran aground near Bic Harbour in the St Lawrence, some 150 miles from Quebec, but was refloated without much difficulty. At the time, the Ascania was carrying $3 million worth of gold bullion to Canada. [2]

In September 1938 the USS Nashville transported gold bullion from Portsmouth to New York.

Early in 1939 secret plans were made in London to ship gold to Canada in order to purchase vital war equipment from the United States. In May 1939 HMS Southampton and HMS Glasgow each carried 15 million pounds worth of gold from Portsmouth to Quebec. [3]

With the outbreak of war in September 1939 Britain began transferring virtually the whole of the nations wealth to Canada in “Operation Fish.” In all, 500 million pounds worth of gold (at 1940 values) and 70 tons of securities were shipped to safety. [3]

In early October 1939 the first wartime shipments were carried aboard HMS Revenge and HMS Resolution sailing from Portland, and HMS Emerald, HMS Enterprise and HMS Caradoc sailing from Plymouth, all bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia, and each carrying 2 million pounds worth of gold. [3]

At a briefing the captains of Emerald, Enterprise and Caradoc each received the following Hand Signal:

SECRET
(Signature)
Secretary to the
Commander-in-Chief.

To:-
THE COMMANDING OFFICERS.
H.M SHIPS –
“EMERALD”, “ENTERPRISE”, “CARADOC”
From:-
COMMANDER IN CHIEF
WESTERN APPROACHES

Two million pounds in gold bars is to be embarked in each ship for transit to Halifax.
A railway truck is expected to be placed alongside each ship about 01.00 / 7th October.
Each truck is expected to contain 148 boxes each weighing 130lbs.
The total number of boxes is numbered from Z.298 to Z.741 inclusive.
Guards are to be put on each truck on arrival at the ship.
Embarkation is to commence about 06.30 or as soon as daylight permits.
Adequate steps are to be taken for supervision of each box from unloading from truck to storage in ship.
Finally a receipt is to be forwarded to Commander in Chief, Western Approaches on the attached form.
23.51 / 6th October 1939. [3]

From October 1939 until August 1940 merchant and naval vessels carried over 160 shipments of gold bullion from the United Kingdom to Canada and the United States. In the same period there were many gold shipments to Canada and the United States from South Africa, Australia, India and Hong Kong. [3]


I’m sure gold shipments would have seemed quite out of the ordinary to the many, many thousands of sailors who witnessed them (the Nashville’s complement was over 850 for example), but in themselves, it seems gold shipments were not that uncommon.

Geoff

(To be continued)

[1] http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2771485
[2] http://www.liverpoolships.org/ascania_cunard_line.html
[3] Operation Fish: The Race to Save Europe's Wealth, 1939-1945 by Alfred Draper.
ISBN-10: 077360068X

[Geoff]

Brown’s account of the amount of gold loaded

First, a bit about gold bars

Gold measurement
Gold is measured in troy ounces, often simply referred to as ounce when the reference to gold is evident. One troy ounce is equivalent to 1.1 oz. (31.1034768 grams). [1]

The Good Delivery bar
The standard gold bar held and traded internationally by central banks and bullion dealers is the Good Delivery bar with a nominal weight of 400 troy ounces. However, its precise gold content is permitted to vary between 350 oz and 430 oz. The minimum purity required is 99.5% gold. These bars must be stored in recognized and secure gold bullion vaults to maintain their quality status of Good Delivery. The recorded provenance of this bar assures integrity and maximum resale value. [1]

The Good Delivery specification
The entire Good Delivery specification is contained in the London Bullion Market Association document titled The Good Delivery Rules for Gold and Silver Bars: Specifications for Good Delivery Bars and Application Procedures for Listing. The document includes specific requirements regarding the fineness, weight, dimensions, appearance, marks, and production of gold and silver bars. It specifies procedures for weighing, packing, and delivery. It also describes policies for ensuring refiners' compliance with the specifications. [2]

The basic Good Delivery specification for gold bars is:

Fineness: minimum of 995.0 parts per thousand fine gold;
Marks: serial number, refiner's hallmark, fineness, year of manufacture;
Gold content: 350–430 troy ounces (11–13 kg);
Recommended dimensions:
Length (top): 210–290 mm
Width (top): 55–85 mm
Height: 25–45 mm [2]

Good Delivery bars are notable for their large size and high purity. They are the type normally used in the major international markets (Hong Kong, London, New York, Sydney, Tokyo, and Zurich) and in the gold reserves of governments, central banks, and the IMF. [2]



Brown’s account:

According to Brown:

“Before we left they loaded 50 million dollars worth of gold aboard. It was gold brought from London (Bank of England) and it arrived at ship side in 3 garbage trucks - no escort, motorcycles or convoy. We had it carried aboard and placed in the magazines of the ship. It was in ingots encased in wooden boxes. Each gold nugget [sic] in wooden box with numbers boldly stamped on each box. Each box worth 1/4 million and weighed so much it was all one man could do to carry it.”

200 boxes of gold bullion, each worth $250,000, must therefore have been loaded aboard the Nashville.

The average price of gold in 1938 was $35 per troy ounce [3]. As the nominal weight of a Good Delivery bar is 400 troy ounces the nominal value of each gold bar must have been $14,000.

Each box must therefore have contained 18 Good Delivery gold bars.

A 400 troy ounce Good Delivery gold bar weighs 27.4 pounds. [4]

A box of 18 gold bars would therefore have weighed 493 pounds in gold alone – way, way beyond what one man could carry.


Brown’s account, therefore, is manifestly wrong.

Geoff.

(To be continued)


[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_bar
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Delivery
[3] http://www.onlygold.com/tutorialpages/p ... 0yrsfs.htm
[4] http://www.metric-conversions.org/weigh ... -table.htm

[Geoff]

Two eyewitness accounts, and documentary evidence

In his book: Humble Heroes: How the USS Nashville CL43 Fought WWII, Steven Bustin includes eyewitness accounts of the loading of the gold from two of Nashville’s crewmembers, John Carmichael and Harold J. Landry:

Captain Wilson had been ordered to report to the American Ambassador in London where he was notified he was to take aboard $25 million (exactly $23,983,212 at the set exchange rate) in gold bullion from the Bank of England, for safe transport and delivery to the United States in New York. John Carmichael was part of the crew involved with taking possession of the gold. "On the portside of the ship, next to the wharf, the 20MM battery was manned, augmented by the Marines with machine guns, Browning automatics, and rifles. I was in charge of the unarmed loading party. Gazing at the firepower on the ship and visualizing an attack from shoreward, I noted that our party would be in the middle of any exchange of fire, unfavourable odds for our survival. When the shipment had not arrived by noon, the captain became increasingly concerned, for Nashville had to cross the bar before low water and the tide was ebbing. The shipment finally arrived in an unescorted, dilapidated old biscuit truck." Apparently the British had decided that the best security was to be totally mundane and travel unescorted as if it was nothing more than a biscuit truck doing what biscuit trucks do. It worked.

A cargo net was placed under the loading crane in the event any of the gold broke loose and plunged towards the water. Some sailors were given duty they would tell their grandchildren about, loading the individual boxes of gold bullion. Harold J. Landry remembers how "they loaded the gold by hand up the gangplank; they put the gold in the Powder Room (ammunition room) and put a lock on it. We had a lot of young (eighteen to twenty year olds) sailors move that gold." One of those young gold-carrying sailors was Plankie W. Frank Gill S2c. It was far more monetary wealth than any of them would ever accumulate during their lifetimes.

In all, the Nashville took on board 429 boxes of gold bars, with 214 boxes stored in Magazine A-511, and 215 boxes placed in Magazine A-512, and padlocked with keys given to Captain Wilson, and also placed in the safe of Supply Officer Lieutenant Commander C. F. House. [1]

Thanks to Lieutenant Commander Charles Frederick House (and his grandson Don Robert House) we know from a Receipt given to the Bank of England and the Bill of Lading that the gold bullion was delivered to Nashville in four consignments. As Nashville’s Supply Officer, Commander House signed a receipt for each consignment, which Captain W. W. Wilson then countersigned. [2]

THE RECEIPT FOR CONSIGNMENT No.4 shows:

(Consignment No.4)
22nd September 1938

Received of the Bank of England this 22nd day of September 108, say, One hundred and eight, boxes of gold bullion, numbered CO.322/429, stated to contain 432 Bars weighing 174819.550 ounces gross.

[Lt. Cmdr. House’s signature]
Supply Officer, C.F. House, Lt. Comdr. (SC) U.S.N.
U.S. Cruiser “Nashville”

Countersigned:
[Captain Wilson’s signature]
W. W. Wilson, CAPT., USN.
Commander,
U.S. Cruiser “Nashville”

The GOVERNMENT BILL OF LADING shows:

Bill to (Department or Establishment and Bureau or Service) NAVY DEPARTMENT, BUREAU OF SUPPLIES AND ACCOUNTS
(Issuing office) U.S.S. NASHVILLE
(Name and title of issuing officer) Supply Officer, U.S.S. NASHVILLE
(Date issued) 22 Sept. 1938
Received from (consignor) BANK OF ENGLAND
by the (name of transportation company) Commanding Officer – U.S.S. NASHVILLE the public property hereinafter described, in apparent good order and condition (contents and value unknown) to be forwarded subject to conditions stated on the reverse hereof, from (Shipping point) Portsmouth, England to (Destination) New York, N.Y. by the said company and connecting lines, there to be delivered in like good order and condition to (Consignor) The Federal Reserve Bank, New York, N.Y. As Fiscal Agent of the United States via U.S.S. NASHVILLE.


(consignment No. 1)
107 boxes – GOLD BULLION
#CO.1/107 stated to contain 428 bars gross weight ounces - - 173024.425
(consignment No. 2)
107 boxes – GOLD BULLION
#CO.108/214 stated to contain 428 bars gross weight ounces - - 173020.875
(consignment No. 3)
107 boxes – GOLD BULLION
#CO.215/321 stated to contain 428 bars gross weight ounces - - 173093.825
(consignment No. 4)
108 boxes – GOLD BULLION
#CO.322/429 stated to contain 432 bars gross weight ounces - - 174819.550

429 boxes TOTAL 693958.675


(Name of transportation company) U.S.S. NASHVILLE
(Date) Sept.22 1938 Per (Agent) W.W. WILSON Captain, U.S. Navy

CERTIFICATE OF ISSUING OFFICER
(Issuing Officer) C. F. HOUSE Lt. Comdr. (SC) USN.



USS NASHVILLE, Captain W.W. WILSON, USN., Commanding, Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York
[delivered]
693958.675 ounces gross weight
[to]
As Fiscal Agent of the United States
D J CAMERON for FEDERAL RESERVE BANK of NY.
October 4, 1938

A calculation using the average price of gold in 1938 of $35 per ounce, shows the 693958.675 ounces of gold transferred from the Bank of England into the custody of the USS Nashville was worth about $24,288,565 at that time.


Notes:
The documentary evidence shows Brown was wrong in claiming, “they loaded 50 million dollars worth of gold aboard.”
The value of the gold transferred from the Bank of England into the custody of the USS Nashville was in the in the region 24 to 25 million dollars at the time.

Brown was wrong in claiming, “This gold was consigned to the Chase Manhattan Bank in New York.”
Firstly, the Chase Manhattan Bank as such didn’t come into existence until 17 years after Brown claims the gold was consigned there. [3]

Secondly, the documentary evidence clearly shows that on October 4, 1938, D J Cameron for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, as Fiscal Agent of the United States, signed for the gold shipment.


Geoff & Chris

[1] Humble Heroes: How the USS Nashville CL43 Fought WWII, by Steven Bustin.
ISBN-10: 1419658840
[2] http://www.shortsnorter.org/Charles_F_H ... orter.html
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chase_%28bank%29

[FM No Static At All]

It is interesting to note that much of that gold did not go to the U.S. Treasury and hence to the People, but instead was transferred to the Federal Reserve Bank in New York. Perhaps even as far back as then, the Federal Reserve was already using the Peoples military to do its bidding.



Relative to the thread and the differing accounts by Dr. Brown and the published records, it is possible that what was told to the crew was a lie or he was privy to the cover-up.

Just an observation that is not taught in American History.