If the US didn't buy the Danish Virgin Islands...

IOTL, the Danish Virgin Islands were sold to the US in 1916 which culminated several attempts dating back to the 1860s to transfer the islands to American hands; the impetus for the conclusion of the sale was a fear that somehow the High Seas Fleet might seize the islands (never mind that Denmark was a neutral at the time) for use as a U-boat base in the western Atlantic. Suppose, however, the more anti-war members of Congress, particularly the Senate, which had to approve the treaty, blocked the sale and transfer?

Now fast forward to 1940: the islands are still Danish, and presuming the sale had no butterflies in Western European events, the Wehrmacht overruns Denmark. Do the islands:
• Become a home-in-exile for the Danish royal family?
• Get seized by the US on whatever pretext might be cobbled together to prevent Germany from grabbing them?
• Get seized by Germany and converted to a base in the Caribbean and western Atlantic for U-boat warfare?
• Have some other chain of events transpire?

I might add that this third option could well be a worst case for the locals, since today the island's population is roughly 3/4 of African descent: they would not be treated gently by Hitler's forces.

Thoughts?
 
Very, very hard to imagine that the 3rd option would happen. Neither Britain nor the US would allow the Nazis to get forces to the islands, nor keep them.
 
I suspect that the US government would, in the course of the "Hemispheric Defense" period (1940-1941), handle Danish territories in the Caribbean in much the same way as it handled Dutch territories in the same place. Another model might be the way that the US government handled Greenland.
 
I don't think the Danish royal family would end up anywhere other than in Denmark for the duration. King Christian made a deliberate decision to remain in Denmark and at the time Iceland was still under the Danish crown. It's a far better place to go if they want to leave.
 
I could see the UK and US potting them under protection and occupy them until Denmark is free. As they did in Iceland.
 
Very, very hard to imagine that the 3rd option would happen. Neither Britain nor the US would allow the Nazis to get forces to the islands, nor keep them.
I think the royal navy would be able to take the islands even before the Germans would be able to load a ship they want to send to the Virgin islands.
 
I think the royal navy would be able to take the islands even before the Germans would be able to load a ship they want to send to the Virgin islands.

The USN had a Expeditionary Brigade of Marines & a squadron of amphibious transports ready to set off on a few days notice. A couple US Army regiments were available for follow up. That is if the Brits are too distracted. As with Iceland the Brits might occupy the place first, then hand it over to the US while retaining a patrol base.
 
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