at the outbreak of world war ii ireland had very few ships, and the united states instructed its ships not to enter the "war zone". acting for the irish government, minister frank aiken negotiated the charter of two oil-burning steamships from the united states maritime commission's reserve fleet. these were the "west neris" and the "west hematite". two irish crews travelled to new orleans to take over the ships, which they did on 9 september 1941.