“To the Missions, according to enclosed list.
“Telegram.
“Supplement to wire release of 22 October.
“Please inform the Government there of the following:
“Since the warning issued on (date to be inserted here) regarding the use of English and French ships, the following two new facts are to be recorded:
“a) The United States has forbidden its ships to sail in a definitely defined area.
“b) Numerous enemy merchant ships have been armed. It is known that these armed ships have instructions to use their weapons aggressively and to ram U-boats.
“These two new facts give the Reich Government occasion to renew and emphasize its warning, that in view of the increasingly frequent engagements, waged with all means of modern war technique, in waters around the British Isles and in the vicinity of the French coast, the safety of neutral ships in this area can no longer be taken for granted.
“Therefore the German Government urgently recommends the choice of the route south and east of the German-proclaimed danger zone, when crossing the North Sea.
“In order to maintain peaceful shipping for neutral states and in order to avoid loss of life and property for the neutrals, the Reich Government furthermore feels obliged to recommend urgently legislative measures following the pattern of the U.S. Government, which in apprehension of the dangers of modern warfare, forbade its ships to sail in an exactly defined area, in which, according to the words of the President of the United States, the traffic of American ships may seem imperiled by belligerent action.