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

Joint Congressional Committee, Pearl Harbor Attack: Part 1 663
Quoting Kimmel’s June 30, 1941, report, Stark said he realized
the defense forces at Pearl Harbor were “[i]nadequate . . . to
provide for the safety of the Fleet in harbor.” 161 Th ey had been
further weakened in mid-1941, as had been contemplated in the
Navy Basic War Plan, WPL-46, when some of the fl eet’s ships
were transferred to the Atlantic to be used in taking the Azores.
Although that plan was never carried out, the ships remained in
the Atlantic and were not returned to Hawaii. 162 Th en just before
the attack, the strength of the fl eet was again reduced when 50
pursuit planes were transferred, 25 each, to Wake and Midway. 163
On November 27, the day after Hull presented the United States’s
note to the Japanese ambassadors, the Navy had sent the three fl eet
commanders—Hart, Kimmel, and King—a “war warning.” Japan
was “expected within the next few days” to launch “an amphibious
expedition against either the Philippines, Th ai or Kra peninsula or
possibly Borneo.” 164 Stark testifi ed that he “had worked for hours”
on this message, “particularly the war warning, which was all out.”
He “thought it would convey what I intended it should convey.
I thought it was very plain and it fl ew all the danger signals.” 165
Stark had cleared the message personally with the secretary of the
Navy and he had “either told the president beforehand or immediately
after.” Stark did “know that within 24 hours, if not before
. . . it had his full approval and that he gave us an O.K.” 166
Also on November 27 the Army sent warnings to
MacArthur in the Philippines and Short. 167 According to Stark,
“[T]he outstanding things in the Army message . . . was that
war might come at any moment.” Th e message “directed Short
161 Ibid., part 5, p. 2107.
162 Ibid. See also part 6, p. 2505, Kimmel statement to the Joint Committee.
163 Ibid., part 5, pp. 2154–71.
164 Ibid., part 14, p. 1406, CNO Dispatch #272337.
165 Ibid., part 5, p. 2447.
166 Ibid., p. 2151.
167 Ibid., part 14, pp. 1328–29.