|
The first exchange with the Japanese was for diplomatic personnel and their families. Japanese diplomats traveled by train to New York where they boarded the Swedish liner Gripsholm. The most logical exchange would have been over a Pacific route, perhaps at Vladivostok in the neutral Soviet Union. For whatever reason this did not happen. Instead, Mozombique was chosen as the closest neutral territory to Japan. Japanese women and children were driven to the train station at White Sulfur Springs (June 10, 1942). Taxis shuttled the Japanese back and forth from the station to the hotel transporting women and children. The men escorted by armed guards walked the short distance to the station. The guards were primarily to protect the individuals. They boarded two special passenger trains. Senior diplomats were assigned Pullman class with private sleeping compartments. The train took them to New York where they boarded the chartered Swedish liner Gripsholm. The exchange vessels were instructed to use a special light pattern: green red green red and had to follow a strictly determined route to their destinations . The had to sail unescorted and unarmed. The Gripsholm stopped at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Brazil had also declared war on Japan. At Rio, 417 Japanese boarded. A member of the Japanese Embassy staff carried a cloth covered portrait of the Emperor and the Japanese bowed as it passed and was placed on a safe place aboard the ship. The exchange was carried out at Lourenco Marques (Maputo) in the Portuguese colony of Mozambique. The ship had a large sign painted on the sides identifying the vessel as 'Diplomatic'. It sailed with lights lit so that U-boat captains could easily identify it. American diplomats arrived from Shanghai and Yokohama aboard the Asama Maru and the Conte Verde an Italian ship the Japanese chartered. The Asama Maru was owned by Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK)--the Japanese Mail Steamship Company. It was launched in 1929. There were large white crosses painted on its sides to identify it to American and British submarines. A second exchange ship, Conte Verde traveled from Shanghai, calling at Singapore. A member of the Spanish legation in Tokyo sailed on each ship. Spain was neutral and the Spaniards were the only passengers with the authority to send and receive plain language communication. The two ships rendezvoused and sailed to Lourenco Marques, arriving on July 23, 1942. The two vessels carried 1,500 Americans from Japan, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Saigon. It was an NYK vessel that in 1912 had delivered the first cargo of cherry tree saplings to Washington, D.C. They were a gift from the City of Tokyo's Mayor Yukio Ozaki. After the exchange the Japanese boarded the Asama Maru which had delivered some of the American diplomats. [Stewart] Later in the War it would be sunk by an American submarine--the fate of much of the Maru fleet. The Gripsholm with its exchanged American diplomats
Stewart, William H. Military Historical Cartographer. "First Diplomatic Exchange of World War II".
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to Main Japaneswe World War II exchanges page]
[Return to Main Axis World War II exchanges page]
[Return to Main American World War II diplomatic exchanges page]
[Return to Main American World War II diplomacy page]
[Return to Main Portuguese World War II page]
[Return to Main American World War II page]
[Return to Main World War II page]
[About Us]
[Aftermath]
[Biographies]
[Campaigns]
[Children]
[Countries]
[Deciding factors]
[Diplomacy]
[Geo-political crisis]
[Economics]
[Home front]
[Intelligence]
[POWs]
[Resistance]
[Race]
[Refugees]
[Technology]
[Totalitarian powers]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Return to Main World War II page]
[Return to Main war essay page]
[Return to CIH Home page]
