A World War II agreement between F. D. Roosevelt and Churchill. Known as the Destroyer Transfer Agreement, it ensured the US transfer to Britain of 50 much-needed destroyers in exchange for leases of bases in British possessions in the West Indies, Newfoundland, and British Guiana. Being of World War I design, the destroyers became surplus to British requirements during the war, but in the early and critical stage of World War II they were an invaluable supplement to available escort vessels.