File No. 811.304 M28/58.

The Secretary of War to the Secretary of State.

No. 21037.]

Sir: Under date of December 6, 1910, President Gómez requested in a letter addressed to the President1 that a part of the battleship Maine be delivered to the Republic of Cuba for memorial purposes. Subsequently the Secretary of Public Works of Cuba addressed a letter to the engineer office in charge, asking that the after-turret of the vessel intact, with its guns and their mounts, be furnished for such purpose.

Under authority of the Act of Congress approved December 22, 1911,2 I have this day approved the transfer of the said after-turret intact, with guns and their mounts and some of the shells belonging to same, to the Republic of Cuba for the purpose above indicated, and have the honor to request that the Department of State will so inform the President of the Republic of Cuba.

A copy of the President’s letter to President Gómez on the subject is also transmitted herewith.1

H. L. Stimson.