50 old destroyers
Yes, in 1941 President Roosevelt agreed to exchange for the lease of the British naval and air forces.
50 old destroyers
50 old destroyers
The Destroyers for Bases Agreement was reached in September of 1940. Roosevelt sent destroyer ships to Churchill in exchange for the use of rent free British bases.
President Roosevelt used the executive agreement as the basis for the exchange of American Navy Destroyer ships in exchange for the lease of British bases after the Fall of France in 1940.
Roosevelt was determined to aid Churchill by giving him some old destroyers, but was binded by the Neutrality Act. Roosevelt found a loophole in the provision of the Neutrality Act that required cash purchases. In exchange for the right to build American bases on British-controlled Newfoundland, Bermuda, and islands in the Caribbean, Roosevelt sent 50 old American destroyers to Britain.
Britain needed the battleships to convoy goods across the atlantic They were not "given" to Britain at all, but transferred in exchange for use of British bases. They were not battleships but old destroyers from the latter years of WW1. On average they took 18 months in a dockyard to make them seaworthy enough for convoy protection.
British overseas bases.
British overseas military bases.
President Roosevelt signed the lend-lease bill into law on 11 March 1941. It enabled America to directly aid Britain and her allies in the fight against Nazis Germany, in exchange for the American use of British bases on Britain's overseas territories. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbour, America officially declared war on Japan. Some days later, Hitler declared was on America. So America entered the war and with her might in production and manpower, America helped to defeat Germany, Italy and Japan.Though Russia began the war as an ally to Germany, when Hitler attacked Russia, Russia became on the Allies side.
Roosevelt's compromise for helping Britain as he could not sell Britain US destroyers without defying the Neutrality Act; Britain received 50 old but still serviceable US destroyers in exchange for giving the US the right to build military bases on British Islands in the Caribbean.
Because the president said that the military would supply war materials to other countries in exchange for military bases in England