Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Held To A Higher Standard: The Downfall Of Admiral Kimmel
    Held To A Higher Standard: The Downfall Of Admiral Kimmel
    Held To A Higher Standard: The Downfall Of Admiral Kimmel
    Ebook97 pages55 minutes

    Held To A Higher Standard: The Downfall Of Admiral Kimmel

    By Lt-Cmd Matthew R. Pettinger

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    In the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Admiral Husband Kimmel was relieved of command of the United States Pacific Fleet and forced into retirement. Eight official investigations were conducted to determine his accountability for the attack. These investigations produced mixed and often contradictory findings. Though he was never brought to court-martial, accusations of dereliction of duty damaged his reputation considerably. Ultimately, he was one of only two World War Two flag officers not to be retired at the highest rank held during the war; the other was Lieutenant General Walter Short, the Army’s Hawaiian commander at the time of the attack. In contrast, only nine hours after the Pearl Harbor attack, General Douglas MacArthur suffered a similar crushing surprise defeat in the Philippines despite his knowledge that the Japanese had initiated hostilities. Yet, he became a national war hero. The differing treatment accorded Admiral Kimmel compared to General MacArthur stands as a lesson on biased judgement. Today, military commanders in the Global War on Terrorism may find themselves in circumstances similar to either of these two commanders. Knowledge of their situations may help today’s commanders avoid similar pitfalls, or may prevent comparable unbalanced treatment.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherVerdun Press
    Release dateAug 15, 2014
    ISBN9781782894933
    Held To A Higher Standard: The Downfall Of Admiral Kimmel

    Related to Held To A Higher Standard

    Related ebooks

    Wars & Military For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Errancies

      Feb 11, 2020

      Errancies
      3 min read

    • Article

      Carriers at War

      Apr 5, 2022

      Carriers at War
      1 min read

    • Article

      Aftermath Of War

      Oct 31, 2018

      Aftermath Of War
      10 min read

    • Article

      Desert Rats In Normandy

      Jul 11, 2019

      Desert Rats In Normandy
      11 min read

    • Article

      Resistance Assassins

      Mar 19, 2020

      Resistance Assassins
      4 min read

    • Article

      Battle Of New Orleans

      Nov 1, 2018

      WORDS MARC DESANTIS  FORTS JACKSON AND ST PHILIP, NEAR NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA 18-24 APRIL 1862 “THE WAR FOR THE MISSISSIPPI WOULD BE ONE OF NOT JUST RIVERINE NAVAL FORCES BUT ALSO OF FORTIFICATIONS AND GUN BATTERIES SITUATED ON ITS BANKS” Stretchi

      13 min read

    • Article

      Battle Of The Beams

      Aug 31, 2021

      Battle Of The Beams
      13 min read

    • Article

      Battle Famous : Turckheim

      Oct 31, 2019

      Battle Famous : Turckheim
      2 min read

    • Article

      Operation Rosario

      Feb 26, 2021

      Operation Rosario
      10 min read

    • Article

      Hill 262

      Oct 3, 2019

      Hill 262
      13 min read

    • Article

      The Battle Of Barking Creek

      Sep 3, 2019

      The Battle Of Barking Creek
      11 min read

    • Article

      Death And The Admirals

      Jan 10, 2023

      Death And The Admirals
      10 min read

    • Article

      The Long View

      Dec 21, 2021

      The Long View
      2 min read

    • Article

      Battle of Ngok Tavak

      Dec 21, 2021

      Battle of Ngok Tavak
      1 min read

    • Article

      On A Strange Shore

      Feb 4, 2020

      On A Strange Shore
      7 min read

    • Article

      In Deep Water

      Jul 6, 2021

      In Deep Water
      2 min read

    • Article

      Ideas For Wargaming History's Earliest Conflicts Battles In Bronze

      Mar 15, 2024

      Mercenary troops can be just as loyal or more loyal than your own troops. When I defeated and captured the Sherden pirates, I took these veteran fighters and made them my personal bodyguards. During the Bronze Age, ancient peoples began to smelt copp

      5 min read

    • Article

      Galtieri’s Gamble

      Feb 26, 2021

      Galtieri’s Gamble
      13 min read

    • Article

      An Almost-perfect Surprise Attack

      Sep 7, 2021

      An Almost-perfect Surprise Attack
      5 min read

    • Article

      Brand-new Ride

      Dec 21, 2021

      Brand-new Ride
      2 min read

    • Article

      Welcome

      Sep 1, 2022

      Welcome
      1 min read

    • Article

      Leyte Gulf

      Jun 8, 2023

      Leyte Gulf
      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Held To A Higher Standard

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Held To A Higher Standard - Lt-Cmd Matthew R. Pettinger

       This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING—www.picklepartnerspublishing.com

      To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – picklepublishing@gmail.com

      Or on Facebook

      Text originally published in 2003 under the same title.

      © Pickle Partners Publishing 2013, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

      Publisher’s Note

      Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

      We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

      HELD TO A HIGHER STANDARD: THE DOWNFALL OF ADMIRAL KIMMEL

      by

      MATTHEW R. PETTINGER, LCDR, USN

      B.S., University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, 1990

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Contents

      TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

      ABSTRACT 5

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 6

      LIST OF ACRONYMS 7

      CHAPTER 1 — INTRODUCTION 8

      CHAPTER 2 — PREPARATIONS AT PEARL HARBOR 16

      CHAPTER 3 — INTELLIGENCE FAILURES 25

      CHAPTER 4 — THE SECOND PEARL HARBOR: ATTACK ON THE PHILIPPINES 34

      CHAPTER 5 — CONCLUSIONS 43

      REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 49

      SOURCES CONSULTED 50

      Official Reports 50

      Other Sources 50

      ABSTRACT

      HELD TO A HIGHER STANDARD: THE DOWNFALL OF ADMIRAL KIMMEL, by LCDR Matthew R. Pettinger, USN.

      In the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Admiral Husband Kimmel was relieved of command of the United States Pacific Fleet and forced into retirement. Eight official investigations were conducted to determine his accountability for the attack. These investigations produced mixed and often contradictory findings. Though he was never brought to court-martial, accusations of dereliction of duty damaged his reputation considerably. Ultimately, he was one of only two World War Two flag officers not to be retired at the highest rank held during the war; the other was Lieutenant General Walter Short, the Army’s Hawaiian commander at the time of the attack. In contrast, only nine hours after the Pearl Harbor attack, General Douglas MacArthur suffered a similar crushing surprise defeat in the Philippines despite his knowledge that the Japanese had initiated hostilities. Yet, he became a national war hero. The differing treatment accorded Admiral Kimmel compared to General MacArthur stands as a lesson on biased judgement. Today, military commanders in the Global War on Terrorism may find themselves in circumstances similar to either of these two commanders. Knowledge of their situations may help today’s commanders avoid similar pitfalls, or may prevent comparable unbalanced treatment.

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      I wish to thank the members of my thesis committee, Commander Brian J. Gerling, USN, and Dr. Thomas M. Huber, Ph.D., for their guidance and efforts in making this thesis possible. A special thanks goes to my committee chair, LTC Jeffrey J. Gudmens, USA, for his advice, time-consuming administrative efforts, and for keeping me on track.

      Most importantly, I thank my wife, Raquel, for all the support she has given me throughout this project. Her encouragement, patience, and stubborn persistence ensured I kept my goal in sight.

      LIST OF ACRONYMS

      CINC—Commander-in-Chief

      CINCAF—Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Asiatic Fleet

      CINCPACFLT—Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet

      CINCUSFLT—Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Fleet

      CNO—Chief of Naval Operations

      CSA—Chief of Staff of the Army

      FEAF—Far East Air Force

      MAGIC—Code name for the code-breaking efforts against Japan

      OP 20 G—Code breaking section, Office of Naval Intelligence

      PATWING TWO—Patrol Wing Two

      PBY—Patrol Bomber (Y is the manufacturer’s code for Consolidated Aircraft Company)

      PURPLE—Code name for decrypted Japanese diplomatic messages

      USAFFE—United States Army Forces, Far East

      CHAPTER 1 — INTRODUCTION

      On 24 January 1941, nearly a full year before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox signed a letter to Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson that was amazingly prophetic in its content. In it, Knox stated that:

      The security of the U.S. Pacific Fleet while in Pearl Harbor, and of the Pearl Harbor Naval Base itself, has been under renewed study by the Navy Department and forces afloat for the past several weeks. This reexamination has been, in part, prompted by the increased gravity of the situation with respect to Japan, and by reports from abroad of successful bombing and torpedo plane attacks on ships while in bases. If war eventuates with Japan, it is believed easily possible that hostilities would be initiated by a surprise attack upon the fleet or the Naval Base at Pearl Harbor.

      In my opinion, the inherent possibilities of a major disaster to the fleet or naval base warrant taking every step, as rapidly as can be done, that will increase the joint readiness of the Army and Navy to withstand a raid of the character mentioned above.{1}

      If this perceptive view existed in the senior leadership of the navy prior to the Japanese attack, why were the defenders in Hawaii caught by surprise? Many of the investigations that were conducted after the assault indicated that the senior U.S. Navy officer present in Hawaii, Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet and Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Fleet, and his army counterpart, Lieutenant General Walter C. Short, had failed to adequately prepare the military defenses of Hawaii. One highly critical report even suggested that the men were guilty of dereliction of duty. Though neither man was ever brought up on charges before a court- martial, both were quickly removed from their post and retired soon afterward.

      However, examination of the investigation reports and statements made by many professional military men, both those connected to and those thoroughly separated from the events in Hawaii, counter many of the claims of the reports. Admiral Kimmel, until his death, accepted his responsibility as the senior officer, but flatly rejected the implication that he had been negligent in his duty to protect the Pacific Fleet. He felt that he had been sacrificed unfairly after senior military and administration officials had poorly supported his efforts at preparing a defense against the Japanese.

      Though the attack on Pearl Harbor stands as one of the most consequential points in United States history, less well known and studied are the other Japanese offensives that occurred in conjunction with the Pearl Harbor attack.

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1