Mr. Blumhe to Wood, March 8, 1865

Mr. Blumhe to Mr. Wood

Sir: In the note you have done me the honor to address to me the fourth of last month, you have called my attention to the circumstance that one or more vessels-of-war built in France, but bearing the Danish flag, have passed into the hands of the so-called Confederate States; and while entirely dismissing the supposition of any connivance whatever on the part of the government of the King in this transaction, you have asked of me some explanations upon certain points set forth in the appendix to your note.

Being sincerely desirous of removing any suspicion which could attach to the government of the King, under these circumstances, I have endeavored to collect all authentic information upon the negotiations which have taken place between the government of the King and Mr. Arman, shipbuilder of Bordeaux, relative to the iron-clad vessel Sphinx, alias Staerkodder, for it is evidently to this ship that your note alludes.

In sending you, sir, the enclosed documents, marked by letters A to F, I permit myself to accompany them with as succinct a narrative of the principal points as these portions admit of.

On the 31st day of March last, a contract was signed by which Mr. Arman engaged to deliver on the 10th of June, 1864, an iron-clad vessel of 300 horse-power, with guns and munitions. The vessel, which was already upon the stocks, was to be finished under the control of an officer of the Danish navy, who, in accordance with articles IX to XI of the contract, was charged with inspecting and accepting the vessel before she could leave Bordeaux to go to her destination. The conditions of the contract were not fulfilled by Mr. Arman. The ship was only finished on the 21st of October, and she neither realized the promises made as to her speed nor as to her draught of water.

The Danish officer, Mr. Shonheyder, consequently could not accept her. Nevertheless, Mr. Arman, hoping to succeed by a direct negotiation with the minister of marine, in causing the ship to be accepted, sent her the last of October to Copenhagen. The refusal of Mr. Shonheyder was, however, repeated to Mr. Arman during an interview which he had at Paris with the director of the ministry of marine, Mr. Eckildsen, and the Danish official added expressly that the ship having left Bordeaux without the authorization of the proper officer, she could only have been sent at his own risk and peril as well as at his own expense. The vessel, which arrived at Copenhagen in the middle of the month of November, was inspected here, but the minister of marine persisted in refusing to accept her; consequently the contract was annulled, and Mr. Arman understood expressly that the Danish government was freed from every obligation to him under the contract.

The ship must then return to France, but, from motives of economy, the builder had dismissed his captain and French crew upon the arrival of the vessel at Copenhagen. He thus found himself under the necessity of engaging here, through the intervention of his correspondent, a merchant of Copenhagen, a Danish merchant captain and a crew composed of Danish and Swedish sailors in order to carry the vessel back to Bordeaux; which rendered it necessary for him to ask a special permission of the department of customs, in order that the vessel, though French property, should be able to leave the port of Copenhagen under conditions so unusual. Being no longer able to demand assistance of French consuls in the ports where the severity of the season might, perhaps, force the ship to seek refuge, Mr. Arman likewise asked for a letter of recommendation to the Danish consuls as well as permission to make the voyage under Danish colors. This permission and this letter of recommendation were given to him, but I need not add that all the advances the captain should ask for in the ports were to remain entirely unconnected with the government of the King, and that it was expressly enjoined upon the Danish captain to strike the Danish flag as soon as he entered the port of Bordeaux.

I hope, sir, that these explanations will serve to answer the questions which you have addressed to me. They prove that the government of the King has been entirely unconnected with the transaction which appears to have taken place, and that it regrets it sincerely. I am engaged in taking some steps in order that, with the help of depositions made before the tribunal by persons belonging to the crew, there may be drawn up some “proces verbaux” upon everything which has taken place during the voyage of the vessel since her departure from Copenhagen, and I wait in order to send you this intelligence as soon as it reaches me.

Accept, sir, renewed assurances of my most distinguished consideration.