DECLASSHHED Authority bibl lL June 20 1942 Re ST JLEY CLAUDE binUhL Junhoiun FSPIDNAGE This memorandum brings up to date the investigative work completed since the submission of the memorandum dated-June 18 1942 and also furnishes specific information requested in the memoranda directed to or John Edgar Hoover by hr D Mitchell Accrediting of Johnston as a Tribune Correspondent' Lieutenant Commander R Berry Public Relations Division Navy Department hashington D 0 made available the complete file dealing with the accrediting of Johnston as a war correspondent for the Chicago I Tribune Commander Berry explained that he did not have any personal knowledge of the first transactions which as he was not in Jashington at the time The first serial in the file is a letter from the Chicago Tribune under date of December 29 ldnl addressed to Lieutenant Commander H W Gordon Jr Public Relations Navy Department This letter requested that the Navy Department approve four Tribune reporters to cover war operations aboard United States battleShips Stanley Johnston was listed ameng the for Lr -COpies of this letter as well as all other correSpond- ence contained in this particular file at the Navy Department are being photos tated at the present time and will be made available Commander Gordon vho is pres_ently assigned to sea duty was interviewed in Jashin gton while he was en route from Boston to Tampa He recalled having been contacted by'Walter Trohan of the washington Bureau of the Chicago Tribune on several occasions when the Tribune was seeking to have Johnston accredited However he is certain that at no time were there any verbal discussions between any representative of the Tribune and himself regarding restrictions to be placed upon the war correspondents or anything as to the manner in'which their stories should be cleared through the Navy It may be noted here_that nowhere in the file described above are_there any commnnications which pertain to restrictions or clearances The second serial in the file is a notation regarding transportation being furnished for Johnston after his arrival in San Francisco This serial is dated January 14 1942 A memorandum in the file states that Halter Trohan was informed on January 16 1942 that tranSportation for Johnston had been approved and that the Tribune should contact the Navy Office in San Francisco a The file dealing with_ the accrediting of Johnston mentioned in the second para graph on this page has been- -Seoured Photostatic copies of ll of the material contained in the file are attached hereto DECLASSHHED Ammonia M i513 $4 a radiogram dated March 4 1942 from hdmiral Nimitz' headquarters Honolulu stated that Johnston had arrived and it requested that he be accredited by washington as a war correSpondent There is written in long hand Opposite the name of Johnston on this communication a notation to the effect that he was cleared by 0N1 1 9142 A radiogram from washington to Admiral Nimitz' headquarters under date of March 10 1942 approved the accrediting of Johnston The last serial in the file is a letter from the Public Relations Division of the'War Department which is dated May 11 1942 and-which states that Johnston among others is a cleared correspond ant It may be noted here that Lieutenant Commander waldo Drake and Lieutenant James Bassett have submitted written statements in Honolulu to the effect that Drake ver'oallv informed Johnston as to the restrictions placed upon him for clearing his articles This matter is treated in more detail in this memorandum under the subheading of the interview with Commander Drake It should also be noted that Rear Admiral Sherman has stated that he verbally instructed Johnston as to the method of clearing his stories when the latter came aboard the USS Lexington This is also treated in detail under the'intervieW'with Admiral Sherman Clearance of Johnston's Stories Lieutenant Commander Paul C Smith Public Relations Navy Department washington D 0 has stated that Johnston did not submit any stories which were cleared through the Navy Department_at washington prior to his series which dealt with the battle of the Coral Sea T here have been no other stories by Johnston cleared since that series was approved Commander Smith explained that Johnston while apparently still aboard some ship in the Pacific forwarded to Lieutenant Commander Waldo Drake at Honolulu two of his series of stories on the Coral Sea battle These stories were sent to 'Washington by Commander Drake Attached to these stories was a copy of a letter which was worded as follows Lieutenant Commander haldo Brake Press Censorship Office Subbasem Cincpac P H Dear waldo Authoriweml ll DECLASSHHED Please see if you can get this stuff censored and have commercial cables send it as fast as you can arrange to have the news cleared '2' nat a pal you turned out to be wait till I get back to HDnolulu 1 hope to see you inside neat ten twelve days if the luck holds Sincerely yours No signature Commander Smith then stated that the remainder of the Coral Sea stories were forwarded to his office from Navy headquarters San Diego California Eith the stories was a copy of a letter which reads as follows Co 1mander Anderson Eleventh Naval District Headquarters Dear Commander spoke to Lieutenant H Requa last night and arranged to call and see you this morning Meanwhile I have to take the early train to Los Angeles and am sending theSe stories to you in the hope that you can somehow forward them in the official manner to the department in Washington concerned with censoring then Ehen they are received there I would be pleased if the censor would inform Er Kenning Chief of the Chicago TIib Eashington Bureau Albee Buildings that the department has them and when released for publication will turn them over to him in time for publication Just to get thi straitened out I will telephone you from Los angeles Hoping to see you when I return here I remain Yours truly Stan's Johnston This letter was dated June 4 1942 addressed to Commander Anderson Eleventh Naval District Headquarters and written on the stationery of Hotel Del Coronado Goronado California Commander_8mith explained that the material sent from Honolulu and that sent frOm San Diego reached his office in EashingtOn a Very short time before'the stories as they actually appeared in print were forwarded by Johnston from Chicago to the Tribune Bureau in Eashington Details re- garding the handling of these stories appears in the memorandum Submitted dsaw DECLASSHHED Authori under_date of June 17 1942 Commander Smith explained that due to the fact the Chicago stories arrived and were examined by him no action has been taken on the first two series of stories received and they have remained in his file to the present time Official Navprhotcgraphs in Johnston s Possession Information concerning the official Navy photographs which were de-7 termined to have been turned over to the Chicago Tribune by Johnston prior to the time theiyr were released by the Navy Department Was furnished in the memo randum dated June 17 1942 Information assembled to date nhich is set out- in greater detail later in this memorandum in the interviews with particular NaVy officers indicates that photographs of die sinking and burning of the 1 Lexington were taken from a number of United States warships in the vicinity _of the Lexington After these photographs were developed aboard ship some apparently were forwarded direct to nashington while Others were sent to Honolulu At the present time there no central file of these pictures and it is not -p0551ible to definitely determine the particular individual who developed any specific picture Due to the rush in which these pictures nere developed and diapatched the appropriate and preper serial numbers do not appear on the beeks 'of the pictures 1 Lieutenant Commander E J Long photographer Public Relations Navy Department ashington furnished information regarding the photOgraphs in question as is set out in the memorandum of June 17 1942 He has been reinterviened and he has verified the statement of Lieutenant iahite of the Na avy Department Chicago Illinois to the effect that Rhite received two complete sets of photo graphs and one complete set of photographic plates frOm tb Chicago Tribune and mailed these to Admiral Hepburn fashington 33 C l hese sets of photographs consist of fourteen pictures each and the photographic plates number thirteen inasmuch as two small photographs are shown on one plate One set of photographs consist of the original pictures which Johnston delivered to the Tribune upon his arrival in Chicago and which rcere used the Tribune laboratory in making the photographic plates The second set of photos Srap hs are pictures which were made from the photographic plates by the Tribune As has previously been explained the set of photographs which were sent by the Tribune to its hashington Bureau had t-ypewritten data on tissue paper flimsies on the rear of the photographs It i s noted that the one set of photographs from Chicago has similar notations The set of photooraphs which Johnston delivered to the iribune have stamped on the- back the official stamp of the Navy Bureau of AerOnautics It is noted that the set submitted to the Tribune by Johnston consists of photographs four by five and eight by ten While the second set consists of photographs eight by ten and ten by twelve which are printed on proof paper Commander Long is having four by five photographs made of each of the feurteen pictures and copies of these will be forwarded to Navy headquarters Honolulu in an attempt to have them identified and obtain information as to the ship on which they were developed and the person '_by'nhom they were taken DECLASSHHED Authorm zulem 3 - 4 Commander Long explained that the photographs which had been appearing along with Johnston's articles which are currently running in the newspapers were taken from the photographs officially released by the Navy Department and that these can be secured by any newspaper which has Associated Press or any other press association coverage Cemmander Long further stated that the photograph which has the Navy stamp on the back and the Serial #0163 which was secured from the Tribune is an absolute duplicate of the official Navy photograph which was forwarded to'Washington by Admiral Sherman in his report to Admiral 'Willson It is further noted that the picture which Admiral Sherman sent in also has the number 0163 on the back and Commander Long said that he can testify as an expert photographer that both pictures were taken from one original negative He bases this statement upon the position of certain figures in the photograph such as white caps on waves smoke from explosions sailors sliding down rcpes and small boats approaching the USS Lexington According to Commander Long the only persons who could release these photographs are Admiral Nimitz and Admiral Hepburn Commander Long ascertained that Admiral Hepburn did not release these photOgraphs prior to their being found in the possession of the Chicago Tribune and an appropriate inquiry is being made at admiral Nimitz' headquarters to verify the fact that they were not released there DECLASSHHED Ikuthor y - 5 Handling Secret messages on the USS Barnett Captaianarl F Holden Navy Department 'washington D 0 ex- plained the general handling of secret diapatches aboard a ship of the type of the USS Barnett He explained that the message is originally received in the Radio Room in a coded form of course From the coded message a decoded copy is submitted and the coded copy is then placed in a safe in the Radio Room where it is kept in numerical order _The decoded copy of which only one is made is routed to the officers aboard who are entitled to see it and after it has been initialed by these individuals it is placed in a safe in the Communications Room The commanding officer of a ship is under no Oblif gation to decode messages which are not directed to his ship However in some instances such messages which are known in the service as intercepts are decoded There are no Special regulations as to the length of time in- tercepts should be maintained However if they are not destroyed immedi ately after they are reviewed by the interested officers it is incumbent that they be maintained in a guarded location Captain Holden stated that the fact that the members of the Lexington crew were traveling on the Barnett undoubtedly is the only reason that so many intercepts were decoded It is noted that Officers Bontecou and Brewer carried the decoded c0py of mes sage #311221 to the officerS'who were aboard the USS Barnett who initialed them The question was raised as to whether the message according to Naval regulations should have been destroyed but it would seem from the information furnished by Captain Holden there is no set time as to the destruction of intercepts messages which are not intercepts are ordinarily maintained from eighteen months to two years aboard the ships receiving them Questioning of Johnston by Naval officials It has been noted that some question has arisen as to who was pre- sent in the office of Admiral Willson when Jehnston was first questioned as to the story appearing on June 7 1942 It has been determined that the following officers were present at the first intervieW'with Johnston The second interview which took place later on June 8 l942 'was between Admiral 'Willson and Johnston alone Vice Admiral Russell Willson Vice Admiral F J Horne' Rear Admiral a J Hepburn Captain Frank E Beatty Lieutenant Commander Paul C Smith Rear Admiral T S Wilkinson Captain Lovette Memorandum for nr Hoover from hr 'W D Mitchell dated June 18 71942 Ehe first question appearing on page one of this memorandum con cerns Clause Two of the Full Naval commitment regarding the manner in which DECLASSHHED Authority -6- accredited war correspondents must secure clearance for their stories 'Since the submission of Mr Mitchell's memorandum dated June 18 1942 he undoubtedly has received a photostatic cOpy of Clause Two of this usual Navy agreement and it has also been set out in previous memoranda that the full commitment was made up and printed as of-hpril 12 1942 and was therefore not available for Johnston to sign in Honolulu before he boarded the USS Lexington on April 15 1942 The memorandum submitted June 18 1942 reflecting investi- gation completed to that date on page one reflects the results of_an inter- vieW'with Lieutenant Commander'wsldo Drake-which it is believed will clarify the question regarding the reasons why Jehnston was not requested to sign Clause Two as is set out earlier in this memorandum the file of the Navy De partment has been reviewed for all information pertaining to the manner in which Johnston was accredited as a war correSpondent and copies of all serials are being photostated at the-present time It may be mentioned that there has been develOped to date nothing which would indicate that the Chicago Tribune or any of its representatives have been directly informed either in writing or verbally as to the manner in which war correSpondents should sub mit their material Sub Section C on page two of Mr Mitchell's memorandum mentions the dispatch from washington to Admiral Nimitz accrediting Johnston but as has been noted previously this disPatch consisted merely of a short radiogram which stated that Navy Headquarters in'WaShington affirmed the ac crediting of Johnston by admiral Nimitz Sub Section D on page two has been adeQuately covered it is believed in the interviews'with Lieutenant Commander Drake and Admiral Sherman It is also believed that the inquiry contained in Sub Section E on page two will be answered when the material and the statement submitted by Lieutenant Commander Drake arrive in washing ton They are presently en route by air mail Page three of the memorandum deals with the question of what articles by Johnston had been submitted for censorship and as is set out in this memorandum the only articles by Johnston cleared by the Navy Department were those pertaining to the Coral Sea battle The memorandum dated June 17 1942 deals with the manner in Which the Coral Sea series were handled at the Office of Censorship and later at the Navy Department - Page seven of MT Mitchell's memorandum deals with the manner in which secret messages were handled on the USS Barnett It is believed that information previously set out in this report will cover the point in issue On page 7 also there is a question regarding the status of the Barnett It has been ascertained from Captain Holden that the USS Barnett is a Navy trans ort DECLASSIFIED Authority - 7 -- IntervieW'with Lieutenant Commander haldo Drake Public Relations Cfficer Pearl Harbor Navy Yard Lieutenant Cemmander waldo Drake advised that Stanley Johnston was given oral instructions by him with respect to the necessity for clearance by Johnston of his articles through the Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet before publication of any articles According to Lieutenan Commander Drake these instructions were given to Johnston in the presence of Lieutenant James E Bassett Lieutenant Commander Drake also gave Stanley Johnston a copy of a memorandum entitled Subjects Not to be _ Released for Publication the substance of which is contained in the Navy commitments entitled Regulations for Correspondents Accredited to the U S Pacific Fleet dated April 12 1942 Lieutenant Commander Drake stated that Stanley Johnston did not Sign any papers in Honolulu as it was assumed all Naval regulations had been complied with before Johnston was dispatched to the Pacific fleet by authority of the Secretary of the Navy The regulations requiring war correspondents to sign an agreement as contained in Appendix A of the Regulations for Correspondents Accredited to the U S Pacific Fleet were not promulgated until after Johnston took passage on the USS Lexington 'Efforts are being made to obtain a signed statement from Lieutenant Commander Drake concerning the above and also a c0py of the memorandum furnished by Lieutenant Commander Drake to Johnston Interview with Rear Admiral Frederick Sherman U S S Lexington R ar Admiral Sherman has stated that no secret dispatches were ever shown to Stanley Johnston although some discussions of secret matters may have been had in his presence Rear Admiral Sherman stated that between April 15 and ipril 30 1942 aboard the USS Lexington he definitely placed a verbal restriction on_JOhnston requiring Johnston to submit his material for censorship Rear Admiral Sherman asked Johnston if Johnaton understood that it was necessary for him to obtain a release on everything which he published from the Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet or from the Navy Department in' ashington and Johnston replied that he definitely understoo this according to Rear Admiral Sherman hear Admiral Sherman further advised that while on the USS Minneapolis he had asked the Commanders of all the ships which were involved in the Coral Sea battle to furnish him with any pictures taken during the engagement and he has had five sets of the best of these pictures made for lie reports Rear Admiral Sherman gave one set of these pictures to Commander 6 hortimer Seligman and thinks he may have given a set to the Captains of the DECLASSHHED AuthorityMJ L -8- USS Minneapolis and USS Astoria The remaining pictures were forwarded to Washington with Rear Admiral Sherman's official reports Rear Admiral Sherman does not recall speaking to Johnston about photographs at all and stated he did not give Johnston any photographs Interview with Lieutenant James E Bassett Staff Officer Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet Pearl harbor Lieutenant James E Bassett advised that photographs of the USS Lexington in a sinking condition were taaen from practically every ship that was in the vicinity of the Lexington at the time Lieutenant Bassett forvarded several sets of these photographs to the Navy Department Washington D 0 and advised that the photographs whidh had been in the possession of Johnston might be identical with photographs contained in any one of these various sets Lieutenant Bassett advised he would be unable to identify the serial numbers on the photographs in question and that these serial numoers were probably used in the photographic department of one of the destroyers or cruisers However he advised that photographs bearing any similar serial numbers had not been received by the Commander in Chief at Pearl Harbor Navy Yard He also stated there is no reason to believe that all the photographs taken of the USS Lexington in a sinking condition were turned in to the Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet as undoubtedly some photographs were sent directly by the Commanders of the various vessels to the Commander in Chief U S Fleet 'Washington D C Additional Interview with Lieutenant Daniel Bontecou Communications OfficerigUSS Barnett Lieutenant Daniel Bontecou advised that only the original decoded message is made and there are no cOpies made by the decoding watch of messages received He advised that this original consists of gunned tape on which the machine decode is made and the tape is then pasted on a sheet of paper Concerning the coded copies there is a work copy from which the decoded original is made and this coded work copy is destroyed immediately after decoding He advised that all decoded messages were usually destroyed about every two days It will be recalled Lieutenant Bontecou has advised the secret message in question was taken by him to Captain B Phillips of the USS Barnett on the morning of June 1 1942 -and then returned to the safe in the Communications Room He intended to leave the message until a later time when he would perform his duty of destroying same UL ELLASSIFIED AuthorityMD 9 IntervieW'with Ensign George Y McKinnon Jr Decoding Officer USS Lexington Ensign George Y McKinnon Jr advised that he was aboard the USS Lexington when it was sunk and about Hay 16 1942 was put aboard the USS Barnett and put on duty in the Commun-ications Room The following paragraphs are quoted from a signed statement which was obtained from Ensign McKinnon While I don't remember the exact date I recall taking a message to the executive officer Commander Seligman This message was along with a group or other messages and set forth the size of the Japanese task force that was approaching Midway Island The only pencil notation on the communication noted the date and time the message was received from whom and to Whom it was sent and the notation Isecret' dhen I took this message to Commander Seligman I recall that he read parts of it out loud to Stanley Johnston Regarding Stanley Johnston I'sish to state that two or three days before we received the message noted above Ensign Johnson and myself went to Lieutenant Davis who was our superior officer and reported to him that we knew that Stanley Johnston the newspaper reporter from the Chicago Tribune was getting secret information to which he was not entitled ihile we did not name Seligman Specifically Ensign Johnson and myself as well as some of the other officers in the communications room had heard Seligman read 'secret' messages aloud in Johnston's presence By 'secret' I mean those messages which bore the caption secret Ensign Johnson and myself made our report to Lieutenant Davis in order to protect ourselves inasmuch as we felt that Johnston was not entitled to know of the information contained in the messages which should have been kept confidential in accordance with communications security After the message concerning the Japanese task force was read by Seligman he initialed it and I then took it to Commander Duckmorth who was the air officer from the Lexington Thereafter I placed the message in the safe of the communications room To the best of my recollection I did not decode this particular message nor am I aware of the identity of the officer who did decode the message I did not Show this particular message or any other message to Stanley Johnston I do not believe that any of the other officers in the communications room ever showed any messages to Johnston as we all had received strict orders not to divulge any information except to_the proper officers to whom the messages were to be routed I made no pencil notations on any of the messages and the only copy of a message I made was at the request of Commander Seligman The message I copied was a message issued by Captain Frederick Sherman indicating that a new ship would be built and named the Lexington Commander Seligman said he wanted this copy for his files Area-em DECLASSHHED Authority as lo did not have any photOgraphs of the sinlting of the Lenington and I don t anyone else who did In his statement McKinnon also advised that Lieutenant Commander Winthrop Terry who was sick in bed at the time 'was in the room at the tnne Seligman read the message referred to in the statement to Stanley Johnston Additional Interview tith Commander A F Junker Chief Engineer USS Lexington Commander Junker stated that he did not show the secret message in question to Johnston nor did he make either a cepy or notes therefrom He advised that he did not discuss the secret message with Stanley Johnston and the only discussion he recalls having cencerning the message mas'in the wardroom where Commander Duckworth'was playing bridge with three junior officers The discussion according to Commander Junker -did not go into any detail about the maheaup of the Japanese force and JohnSton was not present at any time during this discussion Commander Junker recalls no other discussion concerning the secret message and did net know whether any other officers showed the message to Johnston or made notes or cepies thereof Commander Junker stated that there had been previous messages concerning the same matter and the secret message in question merely clarified them He advised that he saw the secret message in his quarters and did not recall having discussed the secret message in the quarters which were being used by Stanley Johnston at any time Commander Junker does recall having seen the silhouette book in the Commodore s suite but cannot recall whether this was the same night that he saw the secret message Commander O'Donnell was discussing a particular Ship in the silhouette book and Commander Junker believes the general topic of the discussion at this time was the Coral Sea battle Commander Junker advised that Stanley Johnston asked at one time if he might see one of his roports of the Coral Sea battle at which time Commander Junker referred him to Captain Sherman Commander Junker advised that the only photographs of the Lexington in a burning and exploding condition which he has seen were shown to him by Commander Mortimer Seligman on the USS Barnett There were several other officers preSent but Commander Junker does not recall Stanley Johnston having been present After he saw the pictures Commander Seligman replaced them in an envelope and answered in the negative when Commander Junker inquired if he might obtain a set of the pictures Commander Junker could furnish no information concerning how Stanley Johnston may have gotten possession of such photographs umuLA su ED L a Ansel- swag is Additional Interview with lieutenant Commander Winthrop Terry Communications Officer USS Lexington Lieutenant Commander Winthrop Terry advised that he never showed the secret message to Stanley Johnston that he never copied or made notes from the secret message that he never discussed the secret message and that he has no knowledge of any officers doing any of these things Lieutenant_Commander Terry first saw the secret message in the office of the Commandant Eleventh Naval District San Siege on June 12 1942 He also advised that on may 17 1942 Commander Mortimer Seligman showed him photographs of the USS Lexington burning and exploding and these were kept in Seligman's chiffonier Lieutenant Commander Terry never saw these photographs in Johnston's possession and has no knowledge of how Johnston may have obtained such_photographs Additional IntervieW'nith Commander Herbert Ducknorth Air Officer1 USS Lexington Commander Duckworth advised that he did not at any time show the secret message to Johnston nor did he make a copy or notes concerning it Commander Duckworth stated he did-not discuss the contents of the message with Johnston or Within earshot of Johnston Commander Duckworth recalls seeing the secret message while he played bridge in the Wardroom of the USS Barnett at approximately 9 PM on may 31 1942 at which time Johnston was not present There was no discussion of the specific contents of the message at that time Commander Duckworth advised that he saw numerous photographs of the Lexington in a burning condition while on the USS Barnett and on the USS Chester but he does not recall who had custody of these pictures Duckworth stated these pictures were taken from the USS Chester and USS hinneapolis but he does not know where or by whom they were developed Commander Duckworth never saw any of the questioned-photographs in Johnston's possession and does not know who furnished any such photographs to Johnston or how Johnston could have obtained possession of any such photographs Additional Interview with Commander Mortimer Seligman Executive Officer USS Lexington Commander Seligman stated he did not at any time show the secret message to Stanley Johnston nor did he make a copy or notes concerning it He stated that he did not discuss the contents of the message with Johnston or within earshot of Johnston and does not recall a discussion of this particular message with anyone Commander Seligman advised that he does not know how Jehnston may have obtained the contents of the secret message Commander Seligman does not recall when or where he saw the secret message and can only assume that he saw it Authority WM -12 With reference to the Japanese silhouette book Commander Seligman stated he does not recall exactly when he used this book or who was present at the time but that it was used only in connection with the Coral Sea battle to identify a Japanese carrier believed to have been sunk in that battle He does not recall ever having studied the silhouette book with Johnston Commander Seligman has stated on several occasions that Johnston brought up the question of censorship indicating that Johnston kneW everything was to be censored For example Seligman advised that Johnston asked how he might send his stories in to be censored in the quickest possible manner Commander Seligman stated that numerous photographs of the burning and exploding of the USS Lexington were taken on the USS Minneapolis and these were officially developed on board the USS Minneapolis He stated that Admiral Sherman furniShed him one set of these photOgraphs which he kept in his possession or in a drawer in his room on the USS Barnett and which he still retains Commander Seligman has never seen any photo graphs of this nature in Johnston's possession and does not know who furnished the photographs to Johnston He knows of no one having such photographs other than himself and admiral Sherman and believes the negatives were kept on the USS Minneapolis Commander Seligman stated the photographs were also circularized on board the USS Minneapolis and believes that Johnston saw them there because Johnston asked him how he could obtain a set to which Seligman replied that Johnston would have to see some higher authority Interview with Lieutenant Commander Edward' Eldredge Junior Flight Officer USS Lexington Lieutenant Commander Eldredge stated he never saw the secret message in question but that about 9 PM one evening he and Commander O'Donnell were in the Commodore's suite of the USS Barnett for coffee and at this time there was a group of men at the large table in the room including Commander Seligman and several other officers He did not know 5 whether Johnston was in the room but thinks that Johnston was present On the table Lieutenant Commander Eldredge saw a hand written outline on a piece of paper about 4 inches by eight and one half inches containing the information in'detail contained in the secret dispatch Eldredge did not recognize the handwriting on this paper and stated the group of officers discussing the size of the Kirishima and during the discussion the i Japanese silhouette book was called for Shortly afterward Eldredge and Commander O'Donnell left the rooms DECLASSHHED Authoriw uhl g i 13 i Additional Interview with Lieutenant Irving E Mavis noting CommunicationS'Ufficer U 3 5 Lexington Lieutenant Irving E Davis in a signed statement stated he did not as a matter of practice aboard the_U S S Barnett receive copies of secret messages but recalls having seen one message on the composition of the Japanese task force as saw this message in the code room and made neither copies nor notes therefrom Lieutenant Mavis has no recolw lection of the date when he saw this message or who was present at the this Lieutenant'havis Stated that he did not discuss any message with Stanley Johnston and knows of no one who did disease any measage with Johnston Lieutenant Mavis stated that Ensign J B JohnsOn and Ensign G Y McKinnon did report to 11in that Commander nortimer Seligman had read aloud a secret message in the_presence of Stanley Johnston However Lieutenant Davis ris positive that this message did not concern the composition of the Japanese task force approaching Midway According to Lieutenant Davis he took no action upon the report of Ensigns Johnson and McKinnon because it was not his duty to question the action of his superior 0 ii cars Lieutenant Mavis Stated that he has no information concerning the manner in which Stanley - Johnston may have obtained the contents of the secret message concerning the make up of the Japanese task fore-e - Lieutenant Davis advised that he has no information as to the manner in which Stanley Johnston may have obta ned photographs of the U S 3 Lexington in a burning or exploding condition Lieutenant Davis has no firsthand knowledge that such photographs of the U S 3 Lexington were taken but understood that such photographs were in existence According to Lieutenant Mavis Lieutenant B A Smith meteorologist U S 8 Lexington Was reported to have had some photographs in his poem session but the nature of these photographs is not known to Lieutenant Davis who never at any time saw these photographs additional Interview with Ensign Jae nes B Johnson ecoding foicer U S S Lexing ton Ensign James'B Jehnson in'a signed_statenent stated that when he'sas stationed on the U S S Barnett he and Ensign G McKinnon advised Lieutenant I E Davis prior to May 31 1942 that Stanley Johnston was in a position to pick up possibly snatches of conversation and obtain information of value or interest Ensign Johnson stated that his reasons for so advising Lieutenant Mavis were the fact that he was well acquainted 'with the communications system and the reasons for its security_and that DECLASSHUED Authoritym Johnston being a newspaperman was not to be trusted with Javal secrets or infonnation which he might accidentally pick up Ensign Johnson advised that on board the U S S Barnett several secret messages were received concerning an impending attack on LgTidway and that he remembers one message tne origin of which indicated that it was not the sec_ret message in questidnm Ensign Johnson advised that he had never heard Commander Eortimer Seligman read a secret message or in any other way impart information to Stanley Johnston Ensign Johnson never showed anything to Stanley Johnston and in fact had no association with h' a Ensign Johnson does not know if other officers made any remarks in Johnston's presence but stated that it was possible that Johnston could have heard remarks not directed to hnn according to Ensign Johnson Stanley Johnston roomed with Conxnander Selig man and Lieutenant Commander Terry in a very small room and may have heard remarks passed between those officers Ensign Johnson was unable to state how Johnston may have secured the contents of the secret message as-no one is allowed in the coding room except those designated to receive messages EnSign Johnson believes that after the sinking of the u 3 3 Lexington Stanley Johnston may have picked up bits of conversation among the officers in their moments of relaxation Ensign Johnson stated that he not See the photographs of the U S 3 Lexington burning andk snows nothing concerning where such photographs may- have been or developed He advised that from hear say he understands that Stanley Johnston had ehdeaVored to obtain acme photo graphs Ensign Johnson during the interview indicated that Stanely Johnston had asked Commander Seligman for photographs and the request was refused but Ensign Johnson would not mention this in his signed statement as he considered it _a matter of hearsay Interview with Lieutencn Comnandhr Jeorye L Earkle Chaplai n U S S Lem ton Lieutenant Commander Earkle advised that he_did not see the secret message in question and consequently did not'show it to Johnston nor make any copies or notes therefrom Lieut enant Commander Earkle also advised he did not discuss the contents of the message with Johnston or Within Johnston's earshot although it use generally known aboard the U S S Barnett that a Japanese fleet was proceeding toward Eidway and that the American EaVy knew the course and Speed of this fleet Lieutenant Commander narkle advised that he heard no discussion concerning any particular composition of this fleet Lieutenant Commander Earkle does not know whether any cificers showed the secret Izaessage to Johnston or discussed it with Johnston and does not know how Johnston may haVe obtained the contents of the message Neither does Lieutenant Commander narkle know of any officer's having obtained either a copy or notes of the secret messes ge u 114 Lieutenant Commander Usrkle stated that he see pictures of the U S 5 Lexington burning and exploding a few days after he boarded the U S S Barnett He advised that Commander hortimer Seligman had these a 1 pictures in his room and he noticed that Commander Seligman had duplicate pictures of several shots including one of the U S 3 Lexington ex- pleding and another showing heavy volumes of smoke pouring from smidship Lieutenant Commander EEarkle does not know nhere these photographS'were taken and did not see any of them in the possession of Johnston Gom _ mander Seligman had the photographs in maniIe envelope in a drev er Lieutenant CommenderE EEarkle does not know how JohnstOn obtained possession of any photographs of the U S S Lexington although he stated Johnston could have taken them from the drawer lntervien with Lieutenant Seeige F Schmitt Boctor U S S Solace Lientenant Georg F Sohmitt from the U S S Solace who returned aboard the S S Barnett advised that he was in the Com modore's Suite en the U -S S Barnett on only one oceasion when he visited Lieutenant Commander Eerry who see a patient On this night socording to Lieutenant Sohmitt Commander Seligman and Johnston were sitting at the large table and he entered into a conversation'with them concerning the activity of doctors in the war zone The impending Kidney battle was not discussed Shortly afterwards Lieutenant SChmitt and' Commander Seligman Nent into Commander Seligman's room and cdmverSed for an hour or an hour and a half during which time Commander 5eligman exhibited some photographs to Schmitt Wanley Johnston was not present in Commander Seligmen's room and there was no conversation at all concerning midway Lieutenant Schmitt stated that it eas common knowledge on the U S S Barnett that a Japanese tas force was prOCeeding eastward in the Pacific but he never hes d any details concerning it Attachment-                     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