Timeline for Was the attack on Pearl Harbor totally unexpected?
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| Jan 10, 2019 at 20:57 | comment | added | J. Taylor | @David Thornley.....The question involved expectations. If a serious air attack had been expected then the Pacific Fleet would not have been concentrated within an area of a few thousand meters. Rainbow 5 and Dog Plan, along with other planning, anticipated troubles in the Far East which would trigger the "Triangle" defense of Alaska-Hawaii-Panama Canal. The Naval and Air assets were concentrated to meet what seemed the most likely threat. And there were issues with peace time personnel . Some time before Dec. MacArthur ordered the Far East AF dispersed. . Brereton did not see to it. | |
| Jan 10, 2019 at 14:13 | comment | added | David Thornley | The defenses were quite adequate against ground and surface ship attack. It wasn't Kimmel's job to defend the base; General Short's job was to protect the fleet in harbor so it could have a safe place. Short was told to expect air attack, and, indeed, he got an air attack. He had made preparations against sabotage that made his aircraft almost completely useless against air attack. The senior officials in Washington made the mistake of thinking Short took his duties seriously (by WWII standards, Pearl Harbor was a quite distant post, and Short should have been competent .) | |
| Jan 8, 2019 at 21:46 | comment | added | J. Taylor | @David Thornley...The defenses did seem adequate to meet a surface sea threat or external. ground attack. No matter what permutations went through the heads of Kimmel and Short, they understood their principle threat to be local and internal. Of course, both would have loved to have the capability of a 24/7 long range air sweep of the waters around Hawaii.. They knew they did not have that, and Washington knew the same. The Fleet and Air Corps were concentrated to meet the threat that seemed real. Maybe there is another possibility: all senior officials from Washington to Hawaii were stupid. | |
| Jan 8, 2019 at 21:07 | comment | added | David Thornley | There's also the possibility that the strength of the defenses was overrated, or that the defenses would have been much better if not for General Short's actions. | |
| Jan 6, 2019 at 13:12 | history | answered | J. Taylor | CC BY-SA 4.0 |