Questioning the Past: Pearl Harbor and

Historical Investigations

Bruce A. Lesh Franklin High School

Reisterstown, Maryland

Text: What is visible/readable--what information is provided by the source?

 Context: What was going on during the time

period? What background information do you have that helps explain the information found in the source?

 Subtext: What is between the lines? Must ask

questions about: • Author: Who created the source and what do we know

about that person? • Audience: For whom was the source created? • Reason: Why was this source produced at the time it

was produced?

Source Work/Historical Literacy

"The Peruvian Minister has informed a member of my

staff that he has heard from many sources,

including a Japanese source, that in the event of trouble breaking out

between the US and Japan, the Japanese intend to make a suprise attack

against Pearl Harbor with all of their strength, and

employing all of their equipment. The Peruvian Minister considered these

rumors fantastic.

Naval Intelligence places no credence in these

rumors ... no move against PH appears imminent or

planned for the forseeable future.

Rear Admiral Husband Kimmel

Major General Walter Short

Justice Delivered or Miscarried: The Attack on Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor: Major Players

President Franklin D. Roosevelt

General George Marshall—Chief of Staff, United States Military—Washington

Admiral Harold Stark—Chief of Naval Operations, Washington

General Walter Short—Commanding Officer U.S. Navy, Hawaii

Admiral Husband Kimmel, Commander-in-Chief , U.S. Naval Fleet—Hawaii

Translators—Washington DC

Ambassador Joseph Grew, Japan

American Negotiators

Supports the Charges Challenges the Charges

Strictly secret.

"Henceforth, we would like to have you make reports concerning vesselsalong the following lines insofar as possible:

"1. The waters (of Pearl Harbor) are to be divided roughly into fivesub areas (We have no objections to your abbreviating as much as youlike.)

"Area A. Waters between Ford Island and the Arsenal."Area B. Waters adjacent to the Island south and west of Ford Island.(This area is on the opposite side of the Island from Area A.)"Area C. East Loch."Area D. Middle Loch."Area E. West Loch and the communication water routes.

"2. With regard to warships and aircraft carriers, we would like to haveyou report on those at anchor (these are not so important) tied up atwharves, buoys and in docks. (Designate types and classes briefly. Ifpossible we would like to have you make mention of the fact whenthere are two or more vessels along side the same wharf.)"

“Bomb Plot Message”

“War Warning Message” to Admiral Kimmel

Consider this dispatch a war warning. The negotiations with Japan in an effort to stabilize conditions in the Pacific

have ended. Japan is expected to make aggressive move within the next few days. An amphibious expedition against

either the Philippines, Thai, or Kra Peninsula or possibly Borneo is indicated by the number and equipment of

Japanese troops and the organization of their naval task forces. You will execute a defensive deployment in

preparation for carrying out the tasks assigned in WPL-46 only. Guam, Samoa and Continental Districts have been

directed to take appropriate measures against sabotage. A similar warning is being sent by the War Department.

Inform naval district and Army authorities. British to be informed by Spenavo.

“War Warning” to General Short

Negotiations with Japanese appear to be terminated to all practical purposes with only the barest possibilities that the Japanese Government might come back and

offer to continue. Japanese future action unpredictable but hostile action possible at any moment. If hostilities

cannot, repeat can not, be avoided the U. S. desires that Japan commit the first overt act. This policy should

not, repeat not, be construed as restricting you to a course of action at might jeopardize your defense. Prior to Japanese hostile action you are directed to

undertake such reconnaissance and other measures as you deem necessary but these measures should be carried out so as not, repeat not, to alarm the civil

population or disclose intent. Report measures taken. Should hostilities occur, you will carry out task signed in Rainbow Five as far as they pertain to Japan. Limit

dissemination of this highly secret information to minimum essential officers.

 Source: Papers of General Walter Short. Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford University  A second warning to prepare for subversive activities and sabotage in Hawaii was issued to General Short on November 28th by United States Army Adjutant General Emory Adams

Date Item Washington Kimmel Short

Oct. 9 "Bombplot" message X    

Nov. 26-28 "Winds" setup message

X X [1]  

Nov. 26 Location of carriers X    

Dec. 1 Japanese declaration of war

X    

Dec. 2-6 Code destruction X [2] X X

Dec. 4 "Winds execute" message

X   X [3]

Dec. 4 US at war with Japan via ADB

X    

Dec. 5 British Admiralty Alert

X    

Dec. 6-7 "14 Part" message X    

Dec. 7 "One o'clock" message

X    

Information Known in Washington and HawaiiOctober 9-December 7, 1941

Pearl Harbor Timeline • 1940 July: U.S. imposes trade sanctions, followed by an embargo, aimed at curbing Japan's military

aggression in Asia. • 1941 January: Adm. Yamamoto begins communicating with other Japanese officers about a possible attack

on Pearl Harbor. • Jan. 27: Joseph C. Grew, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, wires Washington that he has learned that Japan

is planning a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. No one in Washington believes the information. Most senior American military experts believe the Japanese would attack Manila in the Philippine Islands if war broke out.

• February: Adm. Husband E. Kimmel assumes command of the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Hawaii. Kimmel and Lt. General Walter C. Short, commanding general of the Hawaiian Department, prepare for the defense of the islands. They ask their seniors in Washington for additional men and equipment to insure a proper defense

of military instillations.• April: U.S. intelligence officers continue to monitor Japanese secret messages. In a program code-named

Magic, U.S. intelligence uses a machine to decode Japan's diplomatic dispatches. Washington does not communicate all the available information to all commands, including Short and Kimmel in Hawaii.

• May: Japanese Admiral Nomura informs his superiors that he has learned Americans were reading his message traffic. No one in Tokyo believes the code could have been broken. The code is not changed.

• July: Throughout the summer, Admiral Yamamoto trains his forces and finalizes the planning of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

• Sept. 24: The "bomb plot" message from Japanese naval intelligence to Japan's consul general in Honolulu requesting a grid of exact locations of ships in Pearl Harbor is deciphered. The information is not shared with

the Hawaii's Adm. Kimmel and General Short.• November: Tokyo sends an experienced diplomat to Washington as a special envoy to assist Ambassador

Nomura, who continues to seek a diplomatic solution. Japan wants the U.S. to agree to its southern expansion in Asia diplomatically but if those efforts were unsuccessful, Japan was prepared to go to war.

• Nov. 16: Submarines, the first units involved in the attack, depart Japan.• Nov. 26: The main body, aircraft carriers and escorts, begin the transit to Hawaii.

• Nov. 27: Kimmel and Short receive a so-called "war warning" from Washington indicating a Japanese attack, possibly on an American target in the Pacific, is likely.

• Night of Dec. 6, Morning of Dec. 7: U.S. intelligence decodes a message pointing to Sunday morning as a deadline for some kind of Japanese action. The message is delivered to the Washington high command

before 9 a.m. Washington time, more than 4 hours before the attack on Pearl Harbor. But the message is not forwarded to the Pearl Harbor commanders and finally arrives only after the attack has begun.

1995

A Defense Department investigation finds others share the responsibility with Kimmel and Short for the

Pearl Harbor disaster. It does not say who those "others" are.

2000

An amendment to the Defense Appropriations Act of 2001 finds Kimmel and Short acted competently and professionally and urges the president to restore the

officers to their highest WWII rank.

Pearl Harbor: Major Players

President Franklin D. Roosevelt

General George Marshall—Chief of Staff, United States Military—Washington

Admiral Harold Stark—Chief of Naval Operations, Washington

General Walter Short—Commanding Officer U.S. Navy, Hawaii

Admiral Husband Kimmel, Commander-in-Chief , U.S. Naval Fleet—Hawaii

Translators—Washington DC

Ambassador Joseph Grew, Japan

American Negotiators