What Happened on December 7, 1941?

Butler, an independent maritime and naval historian, has produced an account of the circumstances of the events of December 7, 1941 for “someone who may be unfamiliar with the larger story,” rather than “an exhaustive history of the Japanese attack.” (p. v), at which he largely succeeds.

After an introduction and prologue, Butler opens with a chapter each on the Japanese and the American background that led to war, followed by a chapter covering the respective armed forces and one on American code breaking efforts. Then comes a chapter on the Japanese decision for war, five on the attack itself, one on the immediate consequences of the attack, and one on the long term fallout.

Throughout, Butler concentrates on the actions of many of the individuals on both sides, government officials, diplomats, military personnel, and others. He rightly identifies a lack of understanding of Japanese society, and a degree of racism, of most Americans, from the President on down, as significant factors in how events unfolded.

Butler, however, while clearly identifying Lt. Gen. Walter Short’s failures, seriously overlooks those of Adm. Husband Kimmel, arguing that he, and Short, were denied intelligence that might have made them more aware of the danger of a surprise carrier air attack. While Butler mentions the successful ‘surprise attack’ on Pearl Harbor in Grand Joint Army-Navy Exercise No. 4 (1932), he overlooks similar attacks during the fleet exercises in 1923, 1928, 1929, 1933, 1935, and 1938, whether at Hawaii or elsewhere, which clearly pointed out the vulnerability of the place. In the aftermath of the British attack on the Italian Fleet at Taranto (November 11, 1940), Kimmel rejected CNO Harold Stark’s suggestion to increase fleet security by deploying torpedo nets. Kimmel also knew there were ominous Japanese fleet movements in the Far East, and was aware that Naval Intelligence had lost track of the Japanese carriers. Even after the “war warning” of November 27, 1941, when the fleet was in port on weekends, it was fully illuminated overnight, about which even Short remarked.

Nevertheless, keeping this limitation in mind, overall, Pearl, December 7, 1941 is a good account of the circumstances and events.

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Note: Pearl, December 7, 1941 is also available in hard cover & e-editions.

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