THIS DAY IN 1941

[TonyM]

Another decent book treating Pearl Harbor attack is the Osprey Publication

PEARL HARBOR
By Carl Smith

And the Ballatine WWII Collection No. 10

PEARL HARBOR
By A. J. Baker



TonyM

[David_Aiken]

Another decent book treating Pearl Harbor attack is the Osprey Publication

PEARL HARBOR
By Carl Smith

TonyM

Thanks, Tony, for citing Carl's fine volume... "1941: Pearl Harbor" by Carl Smith [Oxford, England: Osprey Pub; 1999, added much textual material by David Aiken, 2001]

For more Pearl Harbor writings see:
David Aiken: "The Search for Five Hirohito Messengers", MARU (Japanese) magazine, March 1992, p66-77...expanded to "Torpedoing Pearl Harbor", MILITARY HISTORY, Dec 2001, http://japaneseaircraft.multiply.com/ph ... rl_Harbor#

David Aiken: "Pearl Harbor Attack & Technical Intelligence Investigation", Re-Pu-Ri-Ka [REPLICA] (Japanese) magazine, January 1990, p47-49.

David Aiken: "Pearl Harbor's Lost P-36", FLIGHT JOURNAL, Sept 2002 http://www.flightjournal.com/ME2/dirmod ... DF526DDD7E

David Aiken: "Ghosts of Pearl Harbor" FLIGHT JOURNAL, June 2006 [combat of George Welch and Ken Taylor and with the Japanese combat records]

David Aiken: "Oahu Island Zero (Hirano Petty Officer First Class Aircraft) Technical Report: Report of a Mysterious Hinomaru Fighter Crashed in Pearl Harbor" MARU magazine, Feb 2006, pages 151-159 [English translation: "Hirano's Zero", AVIATION HISTORY, Jan 2009].

Hitoshi Yoshimura, with M. Asano, D. Aiken, et al: "Pearl Harbor & 101 Aircraft", Re-Pu-Ri-Ka magazine, January 1990, p84-96. Reprinted in July 1992 issue.

Leatrice Arakaki and John Kuborn: 7 DEC 1941: THE USAF STORY [Hickam AFB, HI: PACAF Office of History; 1991 and reprinted: Wash DC: GPO; 1992].

Stan Cohen: EAST WIND RAIN [Missoula, MT: Pictorial Histories Pub; originally printed 1981, Major revision 1991 (with the PHHA team), corrected 1994].

Don Goldstein, et al: THE WAY IT WAS: PEARL HARBOR, THE ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS
[NY: Brassey's; 1992]

Stanley Weintraub: LONG DAY's JOURNEY INTO WAR: December 7, 1941 [NY: Dutton; 1991]

Thurston Clarke: PEARL HARBOR GHOSTS [NY: William Morrow; 1991]

Paul Stillwell: BATTLESHIP ARIZONA [Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press; 1990]

Robert C. Mikesh: ZERO: JAPAN's LEGENDARY FIGHTER [Osceola, WI: Motorbooks; 1994]

[the330thbg]

I thought I remember reading that did break the Japanese code. That is how the US figured out the Japanese were going to attack Midway. They transmitted a false message about the water treatment plant breaking at Midway.., and they were able to pick out the message from the Japanese as well.

[David_Aiken]

I thought I remember reading that did break the Japanese code. That is how the US figured out the Japanese were going to attack Midway. They transmitted a false message about the water treatment plant breaking at Midway.., and they were able to pick out the message from the Japanese as well.

AFTER 7 Dec 1941, crypto folk were redirected from PURPLE (Diplomatic code) to the Japanese JN-25b code which contained operational orders. Within JN-25b, the first breaks came in time for the Coral Sea Battle and significant text could be read to learn about the Battle of Midway....

[Bill Greenwood]

330 you are party right. The Japanese had more than one code. If the movie ( Midway ) is accurate which I guess that it is, the army code was broken in part, remember the officer in charge saying they could only read bits and pieces. The U S did not break the naval code.
And don't confuse the two attacks, the Battle od Midway was 7 months after Pearl, Harbor, June 4-7, 1942.

As for anyone intercepting and deciphering a message from the Japanese fleet, I have never read that, and I really doubt the fleet would break radio silence while at sea on a mission that depended so much on secrecy.

[David_Aiken]

330 you are party right. The Japanese had more than one code. If the movie ( Midway ) is accurate which I guess that it is, the army code was broken in part, remember the officer in charge saying they could only read bits and pieces. The U S did not break the naval code.
And don't confuse the two attacks, the Battle od Midway was 7 months after Pearl, Harbor, June 4-7, 1942.

As for anyone intercepting and deciphering a message from the Japanese fleet, I have never read that, and I really doubt the fleet would break radio silence while at sea on a mission that depended so much on secrecy.

OP-20-GYP-1 records confirms the first official decrypt of JN-25b was made by Station Hypo in January 1942. It was later in February or March before Station Cast issued a formal JN-25b decrypt. GYP-1 records show that only 3,800 basic code values out of the over 55,000 JN-25b book and table value were recovered by 1 December 1941 and, of course, only portions of the applicable additive book had been recovered.

[David_Aiken]

Speaking of code breaking, PRIOR to 7 Dec 1941, there were penetrations of several Allied codes primarily due to break-ins of consulates in Japan.

The State Department's Gray [Japanese called it AF-2] code was penetrated prior to Pearl Harbor...knowing it was broken the State Dept used it to send verbatum text [newspaper accounts or official statements]. FDR even said to send the 6 Dec message to Hirohito in the gray code [he knew it was broken]...the State Dept's two part Brown code was thought to be better, but the Japanese had rifled an American consul office in 1938...it was called AF-6 by the Japanese.

The US Naval attache' in Peiping, China used WIFE code to the chief of Naval Operations. A copy in Tokyo was obtained by burglary.

The British INTERDEPARTMENTAL code was designated BF-2. The code book was lifted by a Japanese clerk typist working in the British Consul in 1935. They similarly pilfered the British merchant ship code in 1936.

There was a [pre war] two digit US Navy code: AN-2 which the Japanese was able to read.

The source for much of this is from, Kazuko Kamaga: "Dai toa senso ni okeru angosen to gendai angosen" [code battle in greater east asia war and the code battle today] in the book by Dodai kurabu koenkai (eds): Showa Gunji Hisshi [confidential stories of the military during Showa].

[airnutz]

I was also thinking that I know quite a bit about the attacks and the war, have read the books, seen the movies, met some of those involved, flown in the planes: But I really don't know much about what led up to the war, what started the attack. Despite being a native of the U S, educated here through college, I have only a vague idea that Japan accused the U S of cutting off their access to oil. I don't know much more, don't know if that is true,or to what extent, or if so why we did that,or what the alternatives were? This, that is Pearl Harbor and WW II, including the Atomic Bomb was the major event of the 20 th century and don't really know the background in depth.

As others have said, many things are attributed to the US Japanese war. I have read too, that
Perry's visit, but maybe more importantly the revision of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 to
include the Japanese(as well as other Asians) in the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924 was a major slap
in the face of the Japanese. To include the Japanese with races they considered mongrels was a
deep insult. In the book, "In Peace Japan Breeds War" by Gustav Eckstein, this is mentioned and
I've run across the 2 examples...Perry's visit and the Exclusion Act..in Japanese blogs in description
by the younger describing the "mossbacks" who cling to their reasoning for the war. Eckstein also
quotes Yamamoto, when asked why he joined the Navy, he replied, "To repay Perry's visit." (Dunno
if it's true...but it's in there.)

Next, I wonder why and how Japan ever decided to attack the U S. Can they have really believed that we were not going to retaliate? And despite their initial military might and successes, could they really have believed that the U S was ever going to settle for some partial peace, or that Japan could conquer a much larger nation, even invade the U S?

The embargoes were more extensive than oil and rubber, they included metals and scrap. As has
been mentioned, the Japanese killing of the of the US fleet was to give them time to consolidate
their position in the Pacific Rim before serious retaliation could be mounted. They were gambling
they could get their industry on track before the US could do so. Consider the other orientals as
a "workforce in waiting" for Japanese use and the idea, tho farfetched, swells the numbers
available to Japan. They really screwed the pooch when they missed the carriers and failed to use
their submarine fleet aggresively as the Germans or later US practices.

Eckstein also addresses Japanese use of brutal atrocities..they were meant to make war so terrible
and costly that we would avoid war with them at any cost. Obviously, it made us madder and
made it easy to demonize and dehumanize the Japanese.

Admiral Yamamoto had no illusions, he had visited California and was aware of what U S industry could produce.

He also attended Harvard from 1919-1921, and graduated from there. He came back as military
attache' in the mid 20's. He knew attacking the US was a huge mistake and was quite vocal in
in his anti-war stance. So much so, I've read the reason he was sent to sea in 1939, was to
prevent his assasination. However he was brilliant tactician and faithful to the Emporer to a fault.

He was opposed to the start of the war and said, " I can run wild for 6 months to a year, after that there is no guarantee." After the attack Dec. 7, when he found out the diplomatic warning had not been given in advance, he said " I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant."

The "run wild for 6 months" quote is true, no evidence has been found for the "sleeping giant"
quote beyond Tora, Tora, Tora. His quote from which it was possibly inspired begins, "A military
man can scarcely pride himself on having smitten a sleeping enemy...."

You oughta dig up a copy of Ecksteins book Bill, I've been touting it for years here, it gives some
interesting insight and history of the Japanese prior to the war. Not a long book, 326 pages. I
believe for the Aussie's it may be available online from the Australian National Library...at least
it seemed so when I googled it a few months back. Glad to see you back







Edit for errors..

Last edited by airnutz on Tue Dec 08, 2009 6:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[David_Aiken]

After the attack Dec. 7, when he found out the diplomatic warning had not been given in advance, he said " I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant." ...Tora, Tora, Tora. His quote from which it was possibly inspired begins, "A military
man can scarcely pride himself on having smitten a sleeping enemy...."

You are correct that the actual quote may be paraphrased as you cite...The actual quotation that Admiral Yamamoto said upon hearing that the attack had occurred prior to delivery of the diplomatic message...it was:

"Nekubi o kaite wa ikenai"
["It does not do to slit the throat of a sleeping man."]
This is an old Samurai quote that refers to their rule to awaken their enemy prior to killing him.

This was personally confirmed to me by the late Roger Pineau, on the staff of Admiral Morison for the Official US Navy History series....and by Captain Masatake Chihaya, on Admiral Yamamoto's staff (brother to an Akagi Dive Bomber Leader)...

[airnutz]

Ahh, thanks David! I found the rest of the quote, recounted in Hiroyuki Agawa's book,
"The Reluctant Admiral". I don't have the book, but it has been said this quote was
from 7 January 1942, one month after Pearl Harbor...

“A military man can scarcely pride himself on having ‘smitten a sleeping enemy’; it is more a matter of shame, simply, for the one smitten. I would rather you made your appraisal after seeing what the enemy does, since it is certain that, angered and outraged, he will soon launch a determined counterattack.”

I am assuming this is his response to someones congratulations on the success of the attack and
Yamamoto is warning, "watch what happens now".

[David_Aiken]

Ahhhh, yes....
I still prefer the actual Japanese words... things can get lost in the translation.
Cheers,
David

[TonyM]

David Aiken,

One of the outstanding features of Carl Smith's volume is the Order of Battle listed at the end of the book. Also, many of the unique photos and excellent illustrations make this work a "must have" for the WWII enthusiast.

I am looking forward to hunting up and reading the Pearl Harbor P-36 article.



TonyM.

[michaelharadon]

This was personally confirmed to me by the late Roger Pineau, on the staff of Admiral Morison for the Official US Navy History series....and by Captain Masatake Chihaya, on Admiral Yamamoto's staff (brother to an Akagi Dive Bomber Leader)...[/quote][/color]

Admiral Morrison=Jim's father.

[TonyM]

Michael,

Today, 12-08-09 (still Tuesday here in IL), is Jim's birthday.

TM

[David_Aiken]

Admiral Morrison=Jim's father.

Note that Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison has only one "r" in his name... the cited "Jim Morrison" has two "r"...

Admiiral Morison wrote the 15 volume History of United States Naval Operations in World War II with Roger Pineau.

In 1910 he married Miss Elizabeth S. Greene of Boston, Massachusetts, who died on 10 August 1945. Their children were: Elizabeth (wife of Edward D.W. Spingarn, retired Colonel, US Army); Emily (wife of Brooks Beck, former Lieutenant Commander, USNR); Peter Greene Morison (former Lieutenant Commander Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, later Captain, US Army Air Force); and Catherine. On 29 December 1949 he married Mrs. Priscilla B. Shakelford of Baltimore, Maryland. A grandson, Samuel Loring Morison, served as a US Navy officer off South Vietnam from 1967 to 1968 and in the Naval History Division from 1968-1972.