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

694 Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy
unless there is some agreement between Japan and China—and
just now that seems remote.” 59
By this time, the Japanese were “rapidly completing withdrawal
from world shipping routes.” 60 Th e United States also
issued orders to ships to avoid areas where they might encounter
Japanese ships. On October 16, 1941, all U.S. merchant ships, 61
and on October 17, 1941, all U.S.-fl ag shipping 62 were directed
to keep to the southward through the Torres Straits between the
northern coast of Australia and the southern shores of the island
of New Guinea, and to keep “well clear of Orange [ Japanese]
mandates taking maximum advantage of Dutch and Australian
patrolled areas.” By October 23, ships carrying U.S. Army and
Navy troops and military cargo were being escorted both ways
between Honolulu and Manila. 63
On November 5, 1941, Marshall and Stark had sent a joint
memorandum to the president. Th ere they admitted that the U.S.
Fleet in the Pacifi c was then “inferior to the Japanese Fleet and
cannot undertake an unlimited strategic off ensive in the Western
Pacifi c.” To do so
it would have to be strengthened by withdrawing practically
all naval vessels from the Atlantic except those assigned to
local defense forces. . . . Th e result of withdrawals from the
Atlantic of Naval and merchant strength might well cause the
United Kingdom to lose the Battle of the Atlantic in the near
future. . . . Th e only current plans for war against Japan in the
Far East are to conduct defensive war, in cooperation with the
59Ibid., part 16, pp. 2212–13, Stark’s September 23, 1941, letter to Kimmel.
60Ibid., part 14, p. 1401, OPNAV August 14, 1941, Dispatch #142155 to
CINCAF, CINCPAC, CINCLANT.
61Ibid., part 14, p. 1402, CNO October 16, 1941, Dispatch #162300.
62Ibid., p. 1403, OPNAV October 17, 1941, Message #162258 to the Philippines,
CINCAF COM.12.
63Ibid., p. 1403, OPNAV October 23, 1941 Message #222250 to commanders
of Pearl Harbor, Manila, and San Francisco Naval Districts.