Sloops for Estonia
On 23 February 1926, the Estonian government approached Great Britain in an effort to secure two sloops or minesweepers. The Foreign Office warned that the WNT might make a sale impossible, while the Estonians argued that the vessels were not ‘Vessels of war’ in the Washington sense. Nevertheless, the Foreign Office refused to act on the matter before consulting the Admiralty. The latter advised that they did not consider that they would be justified selling such vessels to the Estonian Government having regards to Article XVIII of the WNT, and Estonia was advised on 17 April 1926 that Britain would not be able to dispose of such vessels to any foreign government.