DECLASSHHED Authorityu gh 2g 1 6 MEMORANBUM JUne 18 1942 Re STANLEY CLAUDE SAMUEL JOHNSTON ESPIONAGE This memorandum supplements and brings up to date previous memo- rranda submitted in this investigation Reference is made to Section Four of the memorandum furnished Mr Hoover by'Mr D Mitchell and also to the third paragraph on page one of the memorandum dated June 17 1942 _whioh furnished results of investigation conducted on that date It will be noted that the references refer to in quiry being made as to any verbal restrictions which may have been placed upon Stanley Johnston regarding the manner in which he should get clearance for his stories and sets out that Commander R W Berry was making inquiry of appropriate Naval officials in Honolulu as to any possible verbal re- strictions - Commander Berry advised that he telephonically communicated with Lieutenant Commander waldo Drake at Honolulu on the evening of June 17 1942 Commander Drake infomned him that he had verified the fact that Johnston did not Sign any special restrictions nor did he sign the full Navy commitment Commander Drake also stated that he did not recall giving Johnston any specific verbal instructions regarding the manner in which he should get clearance for his stories submitted from the combat zone However he in- formed Commander Berry that he had engaged in numerous conversations with Johnston and that there was no doubt whatsoever in his mind from the general nature of these conversations that Johnston had a clear realization as to the duties and obligations imposed upon all war correspondents by the Envy De- partment as to the manner in which they should get clearance for their stories Commander Drake promised to immediately dictate a memorandum setting out his best recollections of these conversations with Johnston and air mail this memorandum to Commander Berry A copy of this memorandum_will be made available by the Navy Department A radiogram message from the Honolulu Office of the Federal Bureau of I nvestigation stated that Commander Drake had been interviewed by Agents of that Office and he informed them that he had given Johnston oral instruc tions in the presence of Lieutenant James E Bassett with respect to the necessity for clearance on any articles submitted by Johnston by the Com mander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet before these articles were published and that as long as Johnston was in the Hawaii area he complied with these in- structions Commander Drake also said that he had furnished Johnston a copy of a memorandum entitled Subjects Not To Be Released for Publication which is new contained in Navy commitments entitled Regulations for Correspondents Accredited to the United States Pacific Fleet dated April 12 1942 It will Vbe noted here that a copy of this Navy commitment mentioned above was at tached as an enclosure to the memorandum summarizing the inveStigation which was dated June 17 1942 Commander Drake further explained that regulations DECLASSIFIED Authorityml ji Memorandum 1 - 2 - requiring war correSpondents to sign an agreement as contained in Appendix A of the above mentioned regulations were not promulgated until after Johnston took passage on the USS Lexington Commander Drake concluded by stating that Johnston did not sign any papers in Honolulu as it was assumed that all Naval regulations had been complied With before'Johnston was dispatched to the Pacific Fleet by the Secretary of the Navy and reference to the memorandum of June 17 1942 reflects that Commander Berry stated that there were no written instructions signed by Johnston in the files of the Navy Department washington B C - The attention of the Honolulu Office of the Federal Bureau of In- vestigation has been called to the information furnished by Commander Berry relative to his telephonic con tact with Commander Drake and that Office has been requested to present the apparent conflict of Commander rake s state- ments for his attention and after this has been done to secure full and de- tailed written signed statements from Commander Brake and Lieutenant Bassett The memOrandum of June 17 1942 on page two three and four refers to certain photographs of the USS Lexington when it was in a sinking condi- tion and sets out details regarding the fact that these photographs were in the possession of Johnston and the Chicago Tribune prior to their official release by the Navy Department It is noted that the third paragraph on page three of this memorandum states that Lieutenant R Q White USNR Chicago Illinois forwarded photographs and photographic plates by registered mail Ito Rear Admiral H A Hepburn Lieutenant Commander E J Long Press Rela- tions Division washington D 0 made inquiry and determined that the en- velope in question was opened personally by Admiral Hepburn who retained the photographs the plates and the envelope in his poss session until he delivered them to Commander Long who has retained possession of these articles to the present time The memorandum of June 17 1942 furnishes information as to the manner in which clearance was received from Lieutenant Commander Paul C Smith on the series of stories by Johnston regarding the battle of the Coral Sea However it is noted that the last paragraph in the memorandum sub- mitted on June 16 1942 refers to an envelope of copy left by Johnston in San Diego on June 4 1942 which was mailed by Admiral Ralston Holmes to Navy Headquarters hashington D C Lieutenant Commander Paul C Smith who ao- tually granted clearance for the stories was questioned as to the copy re- ceived from Admiral Hepburn and he stated that to the best of his recollec tion that copy consisted of the same storiss_which he cleared for publication for the Chicago Tribune only'they were in the form used by newspaper reporters when compiling material which is intended to be sent by cable He explained that these cablies were undoubtedly prepared by Johnston while he was aboard ship and that he most likely mas of the belief that it would be necessary for him to cable his stories to the United States However after DECLASSHHED Authority m Diemorandwn 3 - his arrival in San Diego_and his furnishing these cablies to the office of Admiral Holmes he proceeded to Chicago and then prepared the stories in the manner in which they were set out When Commander Smith gaVe them clearance Commander Smith is having a search made of his files in order to verify these facts The memorandum dated June 15 1942 which reflects investigative work performed to that date on page thirteen paragraph four Sets out a state- ment by Commander hortimer Seligman to the effect that he could not unde rstand Why the secret radio dispatch in question was still available in San Francisco because Captain h B Phillips stated in San Francisco that he burned messages of this type at the end of- each day Inquiry was made of the Office of Naval Intelligence at San Francisco as to the existence of any Naval requirements to the effect that messages of this type must be burned at the end of each day However that foice was unable to furnish the proper answer Captain Carl F Holden washington D 0 Navy Headquarters was questioned on this point and he stated that there are no Naval regulations which require that messages of this nature be burned Interview with Lieutenant Commander Edward J O'Donnell Gunnery Officer USS Lexington Lieutenant Commander Edward J O'Bonnell Gunnery 0fficer USS Lexington returned to San Diego California on the USS Barnett Lieutenant Commander O'Donnell stated that he saw the secret message in question on board the USS Barnett but he was unable to recall the exact date when he had seen it or who had exhibited the message to him Lieutenant Commander O'Donnell was unable to shed any light on the manner in which Stanley Johnston may have come into possession of the content of the secret message However Lieutenant Commander O Donnell felt positive that none of the officers would Show the secret message to Johnston IntervieW'with Ensign Edward H Railsback Decoding Officer USS Lexington Ensign Edward H Bailsback advised that while on board the USS Barnett after the Lexington had been sunk he decoded messages He related that either he or one of the other decoding officers decoded the messages which were received by the USS Barnett following which the original coded message was placed in a folder in the Communications Room and the decoded copy if secret and confidential was set aside to be looked at by the Come munications Officer of the USS Barnett Lieutenant Bontecou Secret or con- fidential messages were shown by Bcntecou to the Captain and Executive 0fficer of the USS Barnett and returned to the Communications Officers of the USS Lexington who were serving as the decoding-watch on the USS Barnett Such messages Would then be routed by one of the five decoding officers of the USS DECLASSHHED I I I Ia Authoritmdol i we Ehmorandmn 74 Lexington to Commanders Seligman Junker and Duckworth and Lieutenant Commanders Terry and O Donnell The decoded messages would then be returned to the Communi- cations Room where they were placed in the folder with the coded copies Rails- back advised that he never at any time routed any messages to any oersons other' than the five above named c ficers of the USS Lexington He also stated that he had never seen Stanley Johnston reading a secret or confidential message and that he had no knowledge of Johnston ever having access to any such message Railsback stated that Johnston at no time had access to the Communications Room Ensign Railsback does not remember having seen the secret dispatch in question but re- calls having seen some dispatches relating to idway Island which were received prior to his boarding the USS Barnett                     National Security Archive    Suite 701  Gelman Library  The George Washington University    2130 H Street  NW  Washington  D C  20037    Phone  202 994‐7000  Fax  202 994‐7005  nsarchiv@gwu edu