The Tripartite Naval Commission (TNC) was a naval commission founded by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

in order to allocate seized

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

ships and

submarines A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely ...

to the said nations. France was excluded due to Soviet intervention. It was a consequence of the Potsdam Heads of State Conference which took place in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

between 17 July and 2 August 1945. The record of the Conference – the so-called

Potsdam Agreement The Potsdam Agreement (german: Potsdamer Abkommen) was the agreement between three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union on 1 August 1945. A product of the Potsdam Conference, it concerned t ...

– stated that: "The Three Governments agree to constitute a Tripartite Naval Commission to submit agreed recommendations to the Three Governments for the allocation of specific German warships" and that "The Three Governments agreed that transfers shall be completed as soon as possible, but not later than 15 February 1946". The Tripartite Naval Commission, headed by Admirals Robert L. Ghormley for the US, Sir

Geoffrey Audley Miles Admiral Sir Geoffrey John Audley Miles, KCB, KCSI (2 May 1890 – 31 December 1986) was a senior Royal Navy admiral who served as Deputy Naval Commander, South East Asia Command under Lord Mountbatten during the Second World War, as the Seni ...

for the UK and

Gordey Levchenko Gordey Ivanovich Levchenko (russian: Гордей Иванович Левченко, 1 February 1897 – 26 May 1981) was a Soviet naval commander and admiral from 1944. Born at Dubrovka, Ukraine, a part of the Russian Empire, in 1897, Levc ...

for the USSR, began its work in Berlin on 15 August 1945 by appointing a Technical Sub-Committee which had responsibility for making the appropriate recommendations and preparing the allocation lists. This Sub-Committee, in turn, appointed Inspection Parties (also called Tripartite Naval Boards) to undertake the detailed work involved in deciding which ships and submarines would be retained, their allocation between the three

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

, and the disposal arrangements for the remainder. In August, September and October 1945, the Tripartite Naval Boards, based in Germany, visited the UK, the USA,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, as well as

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

and the USSR, inspecting the surrendered ships and U-Boats, and determined which should be recommended to the Technical Sub-Committee and then the TNC for allocation, and therefore transfer, to each of the three Allies.

References

{{Reflist Aftermath of World War II Soviet Union in World War II Military history of the United Kingdom during World War II United States in World War II United Kingdom–United States military relations Soviet Union–United Kingdom military relations Soviet Union–United States military relations Ship disposal

See also

Further reading

References