Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy - Ludwig von Mises ...
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Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy - Ludwig von Mises ...

Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy - Ludwig von Mises ... Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy - Ludwig von Mises ...

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01.01.2013 Views

281 14. The Morning of the Fateful Day NEW YORK TIMES December 7, 1941 Reports: Navy Secretary Knox Says: U.S. Navy “Superior to Any” While the authorities in Washington had been deeply concerned for months behind the scenes with the signifi cance of the Japanese intercepts being decoded daily by U.S. Army and Navy cryptographers, they were also sensitive to public opinion. Especially so, since the leak on December 4 of the government’s secret war plans. On December 6, Secretary of Navy Knox released the July 1, 1940, to June 10, 1941, annual report of the Navy Department, which included a statement on “the current state of the Navy and its enlargement on a basis indicated by operations in the last fi scal year.” Th e New York Times headlined its page one announcement of this Navy report on Sunday, December 7, 1941: “NAVY IS SUPERIOR TO ANY, SAYS KNOX.” According to the news report,

282 Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy Th e United States Navy, now in the midst of a record expansion program and recently placed on a war footing with full personnel manning the ships of three fl eets, has at this time no superior in the world. . . . On any comparable basis, the United States Navy is second to none. Knox was “proud to report that the American people may feel fully confi dent in their Navy.” In view of the uncertain international situation, Our aim must always be to have forces suffi cient to enable us to have complete freedom of action in either ocean while retaining forces in the other ocean for eff ective defense of our vital security. Anything less than this strength is hazardous to the security of the nation and must be considered as unacceptable as long as it is within our power to produce and man the forces necessary to meet these requirements. In substance, the department’s report announced that the U.S. Navy was “second to none” and that it was capable of operating in both the Atlantic and Pacifi c. Moreover, it was being further strengthened and expanded. Th us the public was assured on the morning of December 7, 1941, that the U.S. Navy constituted an eff ective and reliable arm of our national defense. Part 14 of Japan’s Reply to U.S. Note Th e 13 parts of the Japanese reply to our November 26 note, received in Washington late on Saturday, December 6, were a fairly sober review of the U.S.-Japanese negotiations to date and the various points of agreement and disagreement—notably, the economic restrictions imposed on Japan, the embargo, the freezing of assets, the fact that the United States was assisting China, and the United States’s determined insistence (a) that Japan withdraw from China and (b) that she refuse to honor her mutual

281<br />

14.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Morning <strong>of</strong> the<br />

Fateful Day<br />

NEW YORK TIMES December 7, 1941<br />

Reports: Navy Secretary Knox Says:<br />

U.S. Navy “Superior to Any”<br />

While the authorities in Washington had been deeply concerned<br />

for months behind the scenes with the signifi cance<br />

<strong>of</strong> the Japanese intercepts being decoded daily by U.S.<br />

Army <strong>and</strong> Navy cryptographers, they were also sensitive to public<br />

opinion. Especially so, since the leak on December 4 <strong>of</strong> the government’s<br />

secret war plans.<br />

On December 6, Secretary <strong>of</strong> Navy Knox released the July 1,<br />

1940, to June 10, 1941, annual report <strong>of</strong> the Navy Department,<br />

which included a statement on “the current state <strong>of</strong> the Navy <strong>and</strong><br />

its enlargement on a basis indicated by operations in the last fi scal<br />

year.” Th e New York Times headlined its page one announcement<br />

<strong>of</strong> this Navy report on Sunday, December 7, 1941: “NAVY IS<br />

SUPERIOR TO ANY, SAYS KNOX.” According to the news<br />

report,

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