<--PREV Doc #1657  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #1659 Document #1658; September 28, 1960 To John Alex McCone Series: EM, AWF, Administration Series: Atomic Energy Commission The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XXI - The Presidency: Keeping the Peace Part X: Ending an Era; August 1960 to January 1961 Chapter 23: "To keep the Free World free"   Memorandum for Chairman McCone: The matter of the Dutch nuclear submarine, which has been up for attention several times previously, has been raised with me again.1 I personally have felt that we should give the necessary technical cooperation and assistance to make it possible for them to build this submarine. In fact, the latest information that had been given to me, which I approved, seemed to provide a method of doing this, and I understood the project would go forward without further delay. If there is anything holding this up, will you please let me know what it is.2 1 In December 1957 the United States had offered to help its NATO allies in the construction of nuclear submarines. The offer, which provoked interest from France, Italy, and the Netherlands, had alarmed some members of Congress, who contended that the Administration was attempting to turn over atomic secrets without a formal agreement. In May 1960 a tentative compromise had been agreed to by the Atomic Energy Commission and the State and Defense Departments. Under terms of the agreement the United States would provide the Netherlands with designs and technical assistance to build the submarine hull and the non-nuclear part of the propulsion machinery; technical assistance on building the atomic power plant would be postponed until a later time (see New York Times, May 15, 1960). 2 In June the Joint Congressional Committee on Atomic Energy had held a secret committee meeting to hear testimony from AEC Chairman McCone and other members of the Administration on efforts to supply atomic submarine secrets to the Netherlands. A majority of the committee members opposed the proposal and feared that atomic submarine secrets might fall into Soviet hands. According to the New York Times, the Committee’s opposition meant that there was no possibility that any plan would be approved in 1960 (see New York Times, June 10, 1960). The Dutch would withdraw their request for an atomic submarine as Eisenhower’s term was drawing to a close (State, Foreign Relations, 1958 -1960, vol. VII, pt. 1, Western European Integration and Security; Canada, pp. 634 - 35, 656 - 57). Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To John Alex McCone, 28 September 1960. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 1658. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/second-term/documents/1658.cfm <--PREV Doc #1657  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #1659

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