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

54 Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy
On November 8 the SS City of Rayville became the fi rst U.S.
merchant vessel to be sunk in World War II. 2 It hit a mine laid by
a German raider south of Australia in the Bass Strait. FDR did
nothing about it.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military was continuing to plan for war.
On November 4 Chief of Naval Operations Stark drafted a new
estimate of the world situation for presentation to the secretary
of the Navy. In this draft, presented as a formal memorandum on
November 12, Stark considered four possible plans for action:
(A) limiting American activity to [western] hemisphere defense;
(B) directing primary attention to Japan, and secondary attention
to the Atlantic; (C) directing equivalent pressure in both
theaters; (D) conducting a strong off ensive in the Atlantic, and
a defensive [one] in the Pacifi c.
Stark then argued for his fourth plan, Plan D or “Plan Dog” as it
was known in service lingo. 3
U.S. Aid to the British
[As] a preliminary to possible entry of the United States into
the confl ict he [Stark] recommended that “the United States
Army and Navy at once undertake secret staff talks on technical
matters” with the British in London, the Canadians in
Washington . . . and the British and Dutch in Singapore and
Batavia, “to reach agreement and lay down plans for promoting
unity of allied eff ort should the United States fi nd it necessary
to enter the war.” 4
2 U.S. Department of Navy, Naval History Division, Offi ce of the Chief of
Naval Operations, United States Naval Chronology, World War II (Washington,
D.C.: Government Printing Offi ce, 1955), p. 6.
3 Mark Skinner Watson, Th e War Department: Chief of Staff : Prewar Plans and
Preparations (Washington, D.C.: Department of the Army, Historical Division,
1950), p. 119.
4 Ibid.