"GERMANY HAS DECLARED WAR ON THE UNITED STATES" Original W.W.II US Navy Cable Dispatch: Boston. December 11, 1941.

DECLARATION OF WAR TO The USA

Ephemera

[WWII] Transmitted on the day Adolf Hitler formally declared war on the United States; original U.S. Navy Cable Dispatch Announcing “GERMANY HAS DECLARED WAR ON THE UNITED STATES.” This naval cable records the precise military communication by which the European conflict became an officially declared American war. Issued four days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the dispatch marks the legal and operational expansion of hostilities from undeclared Atlantic naval engagement to full global war.

Original U.S. Navy cable dispatch dated “11 DEC 1941” bearing the stark, capitalized message: “GERMANY HAS DECLARED WAR ON THE UNITED STATES…….” Issued under the heading “U.S.S. BISCAYNE — INCOMING,” and transmitted from “SECNAV” (Secretary of the Navy), the form carries a time stamp of “1451 GCT,” placing transmission at 2:51 PM Greenwich Civil Time on the very day Adolf Hitler formally declared war on the United States. Single typed naval cable form, 8 x 6.5 inches, with U.S.S. Biscayne heading; transmitted from “SECNAV.”Within a single line of typewritten text, this document records the precise moment the European war formally became America’s war. Four days earlier, Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor; on December 11, 1941, Germany’s declaration removed any remaining legal ambiguity and transformed ongoing Atlantic naval hostilities into declared global war. The bureaucratic naval formatting—priority designation, routing grid, and distribution lines—contrasts sharply with the historic magnitude of the announcement it conveys.

This cable directly precedes and precipitates President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s formal request to Congress to declare war on Germany and Italy. After the German chargé d’affaires delivered the declaration in Washington on the afternoon of December 11, Roosevelt addressed Congress the same day, stating that “the long-expected has happened,” and requested a declaration of war. Congress approved the resolution without dissent, and Roosevelt signed it into law that afternoon. This dispatch therefore represents the military communication of the diplomatic event that triggered the President’s war message and the congressional declaration. It stands at the exact hinge point between German declaration and American legislative response—linking naval command operations with executive and congressional action in real time.

The Boston receipt of this dispatch further enhances its significance. While public attention centered on the Pacific after Pearl Harbor, this document marks the formal beginning of the Atlantic war for the U.S. Navy. The U.S.S. Biscayne, receiving this message in Boston, stood at the operational threshold of the Atlantic theater, where convoy escort and undeclared naval clashes with German U-boats had already begun. Because the vessel was in a U.S. port rather than engaged at sea, the cable was preserved under relatively stable conditions, contributing to its strong survival state. Within two years, the Biscayne would be converted into an Amphibious Force Flagship, hosting senior Allied commanders—including General George S. Patton—during the invasions of Sicily and Anzio. This dispatch thus marks not only the legal commencement of U.S.–German hostilities but also the beginning of the ship’s distinguished wartime trajectory. Few surviving operational documents so directly connect diplomatic declaration, presidential war message, congressional action, and naval mobilization in a single contemporary artifact. Two punch holes along top edge from naval filing; light age toning; clean and fully legible. Overall condition: Near Fine.

Item #16563

Price: $1,500.00