 Following repairs at Rosyth , Prince of Wales transported Prime Minister Winston Churchill across the Atlantic for a secret conference with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt . On 5 August Roosevelt boarded the cruiser USS Augusta from the presidential yacht Potomac . Augusta proceeded from Massachusetts to Placentia Bay and Argentia in Newfoundland in company with the cruiser USS Tuscaloosa and five destroyers , arriving on 7 August while the presidential yacht played a decoy role by continuing to cruise New England waters as if the President were still on board . On 9 August Winston Churchill arrived in the bay aboard Prince of Wales , escorted by the destroyers HMS Ripley , HMCS Assiniboine and HMCS Restigouche . At Placentia Bay , Newfoundland , Roosevelt transferred to the destroyer USS McDougal to meet Winston Churchill on board Prince of Wales . The conference continued from 10 to 12 August aboard the heavy cruiser USS Augusta , and at the end of the conference , the Atlantic Charter was proclaimed . Following the declaration of the charter , Prince of Wales arrived back at Scapa Flow on 18 August . 
