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N0KFQ > TODAY 17.12.16 16:16l 51 Lines 2362 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 16111_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Dec 17
Path: IW8PGT<IR2UBX<DB0RES<DB0OVN<DB0GOS<ON0AR<GB7CIP<N0KFQ
Sent: 161217/1407Z 16111@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ6.0.13
1941
Commander at Pearl Harbor canned
On this day, Rear Admiral Husband E. Kimmel was relieved of his
command of the U.S. Pacific Fleet as part of a shake-up of
officers in the wake of the Pearl Harbor disaster.
Admiral Kimmel had enjoyed a successful military career,
beginning in 1915 as an aide to the Assistant Secretary of the
Navy, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He served admirably on
battleships in World War I, winning command of several in the
interwar period. At the outbreak of World War II, Kimmel had
already attained the rank of rear admiral and was commanding the
cruiser forces at Pearl Harbor. In January 1941, he was promoted
to commander of the Pacific Fleet, replacing James Richardson,
who FDR relieved of duty after Richardson objected to basing the
fleet at Pearl Harbor.
If Kimmel had a weakness, it was that he was a creature of habit,
of routine. He knew only what had been done before, and lacked
imagination - and therefore insight - regarding the unprecedented.
So, even as word was out that Japan was likely to make a first
strike against the United States as the negotiations in
Washington floundered, Kimmel took no extraordinary actions at
Pearl Harbor. In fact, he believed that a sneak attack was more
likely at Wake Island or Midway Island, and requested from
Lieutenant General Walter Short, Commander of the Army at Pearl
Harbor, extra antiaircraft artillery for support there (none
could be spared).
Kimmel's predictability was extremely easy to read by Japanese
military observers and made his fleet highly vulnerable. As a
result, Kimmel was held accountable, to a certain degree, for the
absolute devastation wrought on December 7. Although he had no
more reason than anyone else to believe Pearl Harbor was a
possible Japanese target, a scapegoat had to be found to appease
public outrage. He avoided a probable court-martial when he
requested early retirement. When Admiral Kimmel's Story, an "as
told to" autobiography, was published in 1955, Kimmel made it
plain that he believed FDR sacrificed him_and his career_to take
suspicion off himself; Kimmel believed Roosevelt knew Pearl
Harbor was going to be bombed, although no evidence has ever been
adduced to support his allegation.
73 - K.O., n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
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