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

Joint Congressional Committee, Pearl Harbor Attack: Part 2 691
I would have been unable to do anything until I got orders to
move. 53
On September 11, 1941, President Roosevelt had issued a
“shoot-on-sight order” to U.S. Navy ships aimed at German ships
and submarines operating within areas in the Atlantic considered
“vital to American defense.” Kimmel noted that similar orders
had been issued the Southeast Pacifi c Force “for surface raiders
east of 100° west,” that is, about 700 miles off the western coast
of South America. Kimmel wrote Stark on September 12 asking
whether this “shoot-on-sight order” applied also to the rest of the
Pacifi c. 54
Th e threat of Japanese action, Kimmel wrote,
coupled with current rumors of U.S.-Japanese rapproachement
[sic] and the absence of any specifi c reference to the Pacifi c in
the president’s speech, leaves me in some doubt as to just what
my situation out here is.
Kimmel asked Stark specifi cally,
What orders to shoot should be issued for areas other than
Atlantic and Southeast Pacifi c sub-areas? Th is is particularly
pertinent to our present escorts for ships proceeding to the Far
East. So far, my orders to them have been to protect their convoy
from interference; to avoid use of force if possible, but to
use it if necessary. Th ese orders, at least by implication, preclude
taking the off ensive. Shouldn’t I now change them to direct
off ensive measures against German and Italian raiders?
53 Joint Committee, Pearl Harbor Attack, part 6, p. 2866.
54 Ibid., part 16, pp. 2248–49, Kimmel September 12, 1941, letter to Stark.