Questioning the Past: Pearl Harbor and Historical Investigations

1. Questioning the Past: Pearl Harbor and Historical Investigations Bruce A. Lesh Franklin High School Reisterstown, Maryland

2. Source Work/Historical Literacy Text: What is visible/readable--what information is provided by the source? Context: What was going on during the time period? What background information do you have that helps explain the information found in the source? Subtext: What is between the lines? Must ask questions about: • Author: Who created the source and what do we know about that person? • Audience: For whom was the source created? • Reason: Why was this source produced at the time it was produced?

3. "The Peruvian Minister has informed a member of my staff that he has heard from many sources, including a Japanese source, that in the event of trouble breaking out between the US and Japan, the Japanese intend to make a suprise attack against Pearl Harbor with all of their strength, and employing all of their equipment. The Peruvian Minister considered these rumors fantastic. Naval Intelligence places no credence in these rumors ... no move against PH appears imminent or planned for the forseeable future.

11. Justice Delivered or Miscarried: The Attack on Pearl Harbor Rear Admiral Husband Kimmel Major General Walter Short

12. Pearl Harbor: Major Players President Franklin D. Roosevelt General George Marshall—Chief of Staff, United States Military—Washington Admiral Harold Stark—Chief of Naval Operations, Washington General Walter Short—Commanding Officer U.S. Navy, Hawaii Admiral Husband Kimmel, Commander-in-Chief , U.S. Naval Fleet—Hawaii Translators—Washington DC Ambassador Joseph Grew, Japan American Negotiators

13. Supports the Charges Challenges the Charges

14. Strictly secret. • "Henceforth, we would like to have you make reports concerning vessels • along the following lines insofar as possible: • "1. The waters (of Pearl Harbor) are to be divided roughly into five • sub areas (We have no objections to your abbreviating as much as you • like.) • "Area A. Waters between Ford Island and the Arsenal. • "Area B. Waters adjacent to the Island south and west of Ford Island. • (This area is on the opposite side of the Island from Area A.) • "Area C. East Loch. • "Area D. Middle Loch. • "Area E. West Loch and the communication water routes. • "2. With regard to warships and aircraft carriers, we would like to have • you report on those at anchor (these are not so important) tied up at • wharves, buoys and in docks. (Designate types and classes briefly. If • possible we would like to have you make mention of the fact when • there are two or more vessels along side the same wharf.)" “Bomb Plot Message”

15. “War Warning Message” to Admiral Kimmel Consider this dispatch a war warning. The negotiations with Japan in an effort to stabilize conditions in the Pacific have ended. Japan is expected to make aggressive move within the next few days. An amphibious expedition against either the Philippines, Thai, or Kra Peninsula or possibly Borneo is indicated by the number and equipment of Japanese troops and the organization of their naval task forces. You will execute a defensive deployment in preparation for carrying out the tasks assigned in WPL-46 only. Guam, Samoa and Continental Districts have been directed to take appropriate measures against sabotage. A similar warning is being sent by the War Department. Inform naval district and Army authorities. British to be informed by Spenavo.

16. “War Warning” to General Short Negotiations with Japanese appear to be terminated to all practical purposes with only the barest possibilities that the Japanese Government might come back and offer to continue. Japanese future action unpredictable but hostile action possible at any moment. If hostilities cannot, repeat can not, be avoided the U. S. desires that Japan commit the first overt act. This policy should not, repeat not, be construed as restricting you to a course of action at might jeopardize your defense. Prior to Japanese hostile action you are directed to undertake such reconnaissance and other measures as you deem necessary but these measures should be carried out so as not, repeat not, to alarm the civil population or disclose intent. Report measures taken. Should hostilities occur, you will carry out task signed in Rainbow Five as far as they pertain to Japan. Limit dissemination of this highly secret information to minimum essential officers.

17. Source: Papers of General Walter Short. Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford University A second warning to prepare for subversive activities and sabotage in Hawaii was issued to General Short on November 28th by United States Army Adjutant General Emory Adams

20. Information Known in Washington and HawaiiOctober 9-December 7, 1941

21. Pearl Harbor Timeline • 1940July: U.S. imposes trade sanctions, followed by an embargo, aimed at curbing Japan's military aggression in Asia. • 1941January: Adm. Yamamoto begins communicating with other Japanese officers about a possible attack on Pearl Harbor. • Jan. 27: Joseph C. Grew, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, wires Washington that he has learned that Japan is planning a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. No one in Washington believes the information. Most senior American military experts believe the Japanese would attack Manila in the Philippine Islands if war broke out. • February: Adm. Husband E. Kimmel assumes command of the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Hawaii. Kimmel and Lt. General Walter C. Short, commanding general of the Hawaiian Department, prepare for the defense of the islands. They ask their seniors in Washington for additional men and equipment to insure a proper defense of military instillations. • April: U.S. intelligence officers continue to monitor Japanese secret messages. In a program code-named Magic, U.S. intelligence uses a machine to decode Japan's diplomatic dispatches. Washington does not communicate all the available information to all commands, including Short and Kimmel in Hawaii. • May: Japanese Admiral Nomura informs his superiors that he has learned Americans were reading his message traffic. No one in Tokyo believes the code could have been broken. The code is not changed. • July: Throughout the summer, Admiral Yamamoto trains his forces and finalizes the planning of the attack on Pearl Harbor. • Sept. 24: The "bomb plot" message from Japanese naval intelligence to Japan's consul general in Honolulu requesting a grid of exact locations of ships in Pearl Harbor is deciphered. The information is not shared with the Hawaii's Adm. Kimmel and General Short. • November: Tokyo sends an experienced diplomat to Washington as a special envoy to assist Ambassador Nomura, who continues to seek a diplomatic solution. Japan wants the U.S. to agree to its southern expansion in Asia diplomatically but if those efforts were unsuccessful, Japan was prepared to go to war. • Nov. 16: Submarines, the first units involved in the attack, depart Japan. • Nov. 26: The main body, aircraft carriers and escorts, begin the transit to Hawaii. • Nov. 27: Kimmel and Short receive a so-called "war warning" from Washington indicating a Japanese attack, possibly on an American target in the Pacific, is likely. • Night of Dec. 6, Morning of Dec. 7: U.S. intelligence decodes a message pointing to Sunday morning as a deadline for some kind of Japanese action. The message is delivered to the Washington high command before 9 a.m. Washington time, more than 4 hours before the attack on Pearl Harbor. But the message is not forwarded to the Pearl Harbor commanders and finally arrives only after the attack has begun.

22. 1995 A Defense Department investigation finds others share the responsibility with Kimmel and Short for the Pearl Harbor disaster. It does not say who those "others" are. 2000 An amendment to the Defense Appropriations Act of 2001 finds Kimmel and Short acted competently and professionally and urges the president to restore the officers to their highest WWII rank.

23. Pearl Harbor: Major Players President Franklin D. Roosevelt General George Marshall—Chief of Staff, United States Military—Washington Admiral Harold Stark—Chief of Naval Operations, Washington General Walter Short—Commanding Officer U.S. Navy, Hawaii Admiral Husband Kimmel, Commander-in-Chief , U.S. Naval Fleet—Hawaii Translators—Washington DC Ambassador Joseph Grew, Japan American Negotiators