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Pearl Harbor admiral remains controversial

Husband E. Kimmel, the top naval officer in Hawaii when the Japanese attacked Dec. 7, 1941, remains a controversial figure in naval history. Some blame him for America’s humiliating defeat that day. Others see him as a scapegoat.

Born in Kentucky in 1882, Kimmel graduated from the Naval Academy in 1904 and served with distinction at sea, including command of the battleship New York, and ashore, in the Navy Department and on flag staffs. His abilities were rewarded with promotions: Kimmel reached two-star rank in 1937.

As Gordon Prange wrote in “At Dawn We Slept,” while Kimmel’s fitness reports “bulged with high ratings and predictions of great things to come,” he was “relatively junior and not too well known.”

Consequently, there was “surprise” in the Navy, Prange wrote, when in February 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt selected Kimmel to receive four stars and the job of Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet, and Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet. This made Kimmel the second highest-ranking officer in the Navy, behind only the chief of naval operations.

When Kimmel arrived in Hawaii to take command of the fleet, he immediately began preparing for war. He believed — as did most American leaders — that an armed clash with Japan was inevitable. Japan had occupied Manchuria and was threatening most of Asia. When the U.S. stopped selling oil to Japan and froze Japanese assets, many U.S. leaders thought war was imminent.

Not so many thought it would begin in Hawaii, where the attack by Japanese carrier-based warplanes killed 2,403 Americans, wounded 1,104 and sank 16 major Navy warships.

In the aftermath of that attack, early investigations concluded Kimmel had been derelict in not preparing a better defense. His critics insisted Kimmel had not taken seriously a “war warning” message sent to him Nov. 27.

That message informed him that negotiations with Japan were at an impasse and that hostilities might begin at any moment. Kimmel’s critics also said his failure to use naval aircraft for long-range reconnaissance was a grievous error because it left the U.S. with no warning of the impending attack.

But a number of naval experts insist that Kimmel was a scapegoat. Michael Gannon, a history professor at the University of Florida, wrote in “Pearl Harbor Betrayed” that inattention and dereliction of duty within the Navy and in Washington was the chief reason for the lack of preparation.

Kimmel retired in March 1942 and reverted to two-star rank. He was mortified by charges that he’d been derelict. When he published “Admiral Kimmel’s Story,” many Americans believed he had been wronged by being retired at the lower rank, even though no disciplinary action was ever taken against him.

Kimmel died in 1968, but controversy over his responsibility at Pearl Harbor persists. In 1999, Congress passed a joint resolution exonerating him and recommending that then-President Bill Clinton posthumously advance Kimmel to four-star rank. The action was never taken. Ë

Fred L. Borch retired from the Army after 25 years and is the regimental historian for the Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He is the author of “The Silver Star,” a history of America’s third-highest award for combat heroism. His e-mail address is borchfj@aol.com. Robert F. Dorr, an Air Force veteran, lives in Oakton, Va. He is co-author of “Hell Hawks,” a history of an American fighter group. His e-mail address is robert.f.dorr@cox.net.