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

Joint Congressional Committee, Pearl Harbor Attack: Part 2 677
vehemently against still further transfers, and in that he had
prevailed. 11
Kimmel’s dilemma, given the situation, had been to decide
how best to employ the fl eet’s limited ships, planes, antiaircraft
guns, ammunition, other equipment and supplies, as well as his
men so as to fulfi ll his several responsibilities. Under questioning
by the committee’s legal staff Kimmel again reviewed the
situation that faced him as commander of the Pacifi c Fleet—not
only the shortages of men and supplies but also the confl icting
and confusing intelligence he had received, the need to develop
a trained force of fi ghting men, and the diffi culty of reconciling
Washington’s recommendations for still further reductions in
fl eet strength with his instructions to prepare for off ensive action
as called for under the war plan, WPL-46.
Kimmel said he had written CNO Stark and Chief of the
Bureau of Navigation Nimitz again and again of the dangerous
conditions created by the shortage of qualifi ed aviators and “the
continued detachment of qualifi ed offi cers and enlisted men”
needed if the fl eet were “to reach the high state of effi ciency
demanded by a campaign.” He could not spare “any considerable
number of qualifi ed offi cers from the Fleet without assuming an
enormous risk.” 12 Every action has its cost, of course. Th e transfer
of ships to the Atlantic in mid-1941 reduced the strength of
the Pacifi c Fleet. Passing 26 B-17s, the planes most suitable for
reconnaissance, 13 through Hawaii on their way to the Philippines,
outfi tting them with crews, guns and ammunition, did not improve
Pearl Harbor’s reconnaissance capabilities; at times it even reduced
them as, Short testifi ed later, Hawaii had had to relinquish some
of its own B-17s for the benefi t of the Philippines. 14 Nimitz had
11 Ibid., part 6, p. 2505.
12 Ibid., p. 2499, Kimmel letter to Nimitz, February 16, 1941.
13 Ibid., p. 2731.
14 Ibid., part 7, pp. 2970, 3203.