China Clipper by Ronald Jackson

Author:Ronald Jackson [Jackson, Ronald]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0896960617
Publisher: 905 Productions
Published: 2017-02-10T05:00:00+00:00

Sikorsky S-42

Chapter 11

Espionage May 1935

HOUGH YOUNG HAD SECURED THE USE OF PEARL HARBOR and Grooch had nearly completed the Pacific bases in May 1935, Trippe still had not acquired landing rights on the China coast. Through most of the spring, Trippe had talked with British officials about securing rights in Hong Kong, but with no success. Then, in the beginning of May, London inexplicably reversed itself and through the State Department offered Trippe the opportunity to apply for landing privileges into Hong Kong.

On May 8, Trippe wrote to both London and Washington as suggested. But unknown to him, the British had planted a hook in the Hong Kong application process. Once Trippe applied for rights through the American State Department, negotiations would leave the realm of business and become an official matter between the U.S. and U.K. governments.

The British knew that this would remove Trippe from the negotiations and that they would then be in a position to demand reciprocal landing rights from the United States elsewhere in the Pacific. It was a shrewd move, calculated to strip Trippe of his authority in the bargaining process. Unaware of what lay ahead, Trippe submitted Pan Am's application through Cordell Hull.

But just two weeks later Trippe uncovered some information that made him suspicious of Britain's generosity. On May 24 he visited Assistant Secretary of State R. Walton Moore to exchange a few thoughts, then walked down the hall and met with Richard Southgate, chief of the Division of International Conferences. Trippe told Southgate that he had discovered some surprising information. According to Southgate:

He stated that he had learned that in the event the Department should request permission for PAA to fly into Hong Kong the British would request permission for Imperial Airways to fly into the Philippine Islands. . . . Recently a number of British Royal Flying Corps airplanes had made a visit to the Philippines. He said that almost the entire personnel of the crews of these ships were Imperial Airways men and that the purpose of the flight, although called a military visit, was to survey the feasibility of Imperial Airways entering the Philippine Islands. . . .

Trippe asked Southgate to hold on to his Hong Kong application for the time being. Actually, he said, Hong Kong was only a port of convenience. He chatted further about the Hong Kong problem for several minutes, and then flabbergasted Southgate by telling him that he really did not need Hong Kong because he had secretly acquired rights into Macao. This put him in a very strong bargaining position with the British and the State Department. Trippe did not hesitate to use this position, and his value to the military, to try to bag additional financial backing from the government:

. . . Mr. Trippe also indicated that Imperial Airways are tripling their capital and that Air France is taking similar steps. He also dwelt on the military aspects of the situation both in Europe and in the Far East and the close relationship which civil aviation would have with military aviation in any future wars.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.