In order to calm down any American response to the sinking of "Athenia", Joachim von Ribbentrop, the German foreign minister, arranged a meeting between Grand Admiral Erich Raeder and the American naval attaché on 16 September 1939. During the meeting, Raeder assured the attaché that he had received reports from every German submarine at sea and "as a result of which it was definitely established that "Athenia" had not been sunk by a German U-boat". Raeder then asked the attaché to inform the American government. However, not every submarine had returned to port, and all U-boats maintained radio silence while at sea.