Posted on 05/05/2011 5:10:17 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Winston S. Churchill, The Grand Alliance
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1941/may41/f05may41.htm
Emperor returns to Addis Ababa
Monday, May 5, 1941 www.onwar.com
In East Africa... Emperor Haile Selassie triumphantly returns to his capital, Addis Ababa. In the battles at Amba Alagi the Italian Middle Hill position is taken.
In North Africa... During the night of May 5-6th, supplies are brought to the besieged garrison in Tobruk by destroyer for the first time. From now until the end of the siege two destroyers will be used on such missions on most nights and at about weekly intervals reinforcements will be brought in and the wounded evacuated.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/05.htm
May 5th, 1941
UNITED KINGDOM: Corvette HMS Mayflower commissioned Tyne and departed for workups. (Dave Shirlaw)
FRANCE: VICHY FRANCE: In response to appeals by Petain’s government, the US delivers 14,000 tons of flour.
GERMANY: Hitler inspects the interior of U-57, a U-boat which had been raised after sinking near Brünbuttel, as part of an inspection visit to the Kriegsmarine base at Gotenhafen.
NORTH AFRICA: A destroyer supply run to besieged Tobruk tonight is successful. These runs will continue weekly for reinforcement and the evacuation of wounded.
ETHIOPIA: Addis Ababa: Haile Selassie, the Emperor of Ethiopia, has returned to his capital in triumph. The streets of the city were lined with black and white African troops. After being welcomed with a 21-gun salute he spoke of his gratitude “to Almighty God that I stand in my palace from which the Fascist forces have fled.”
CANADA:
Corvettes HMCS Kamsack and Morden launched Port Arthur, Ontario.
Corvette HMCS Sherbrooke commissioned Sorel, Province of Quebec. (Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.A.: Washington: The White House announced: We can offer no official confirmation that 26 American merchant ships loaded with tanks, anti-aircraft guns, and other war material landed in the Suez Canal. We can only say that we do not rule out the possibility.
MEXICO: The Mexican news agency OFJ reported:
A report from Tampico [Mexico] says that the National Bureau of Petroleum has brought up the entire oil production of the independent American and Mexican oil fields, and then sold it all to Britain. The oil will soon be loaded onto tankers for transport.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-69 (Jost Metzler) departed Lorient for the first long range mission by a Type VIIC U-boat. She headed into the Central Atlantic to operate off the West Coast of Africa and to lay mines. Metzler received a Knight’s Cross for this voyage on return to base. (Dave Shirlaw)
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 613 May 5, 1941
Ethiopia, East Africa. At 4.15 AM, 3/2nd Punjab battalion advances across the ridge from Elephant to Middle Hill (towards Italian stronghold at Amba Alagi). As dawn breaks, they get held up in barbed wire and are pinned down by 12 Italian machineguns only 500 yards ahead (8 killed, 28 wounded). They wait all day under fire to retreat back to Elephant after dark.
Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie triumphantly returns to his capital Addis Ababa, 5 years to the day since fleeing the Second Italo-Abyssinian War on May 5 1936.
The besieged Allied garrison at Tobruk is resupplied by Navy warships for the first time. Australian destroyers HMAS Voyager & HMAS Waterhen complete the round trip from Alexandria to Tobruk overnight.
At 11.17 AM, U-38 sinks British MV Queen Maud (1 killed, 43 survivors) 200 miles off Sierra Leone. British submarine HMS Taku sinks Italian steamer Cagliari off the East coast of Italy.
Luftwaffe bombing of Navy yard at Belfast, Northern Ireland, does minor damage to British aircraft carrier HMS Furious, seaplane tender HMS Pegasus, destroyer HMS Volunteer, corvettes HMS Bryony, Buttercup & La Malouine (seized from the French at Portsmouth on June 22 1940). HMS Furious departs next day for Liverpool. Bombing of shipyards on the Clyde Estuary, Scotland, does more serious damage to destroyer HMS Marksman and submarines HMS Traveller & Trooper, which are under construction.
Operation Tiger. Overnight, British freighters (carrying 295 tanks to General Wavell in Egypt) pass through the Strait of Gibraltar with a large escort of warships from Force H.
What a hilarious statement from a man so bent on implementing policies opposite to anything resembling democracy.
Note the final entry is May 5, 1941, which brings us up current through "today".
"Selected US Navy documents Uncovered In May 2000New Year's Day, January 1, 1941:
Chief Radioman O. C. Coonce, the traffic Chief at Station CAST, Corregidor [Philippines], reports intercepting messages in the Japanese navy's 5-num code.
The messages detail the move of Japanese naval forces into French Indo China (Vietnam).January 20, 1941:
Station CAST intercepts Japanese naval messages, and Coonce quotes directly from the intercepted and translated text: 'Series of urgent messages Sunday from Bumil (Bureau of Military Affairs), Genl. Staff (Japanese Naval General Staff) indicated carriers, part of cruisers Second Fleet, aircraft from Formosa, may be sent French Indo China due unforeseen circumstances.
Not confirmed by traffic this date. Will advise.
IDZUMO (flagship of China Fleet) on South Coast Hainan. End.'April 22, 1941:
Chief Radioman Leroy Lankford, who relieved Coonce as traffic chief at CAST, reports that decrypted Japanese navy messages disclose the formation of a major new fleet, which places all ten of Japanese aircraft carriers under a single commander.
Lankford learns the commander -- secret radio code name MI KI 99 -- is aboard his flag ship HIJMS Akagi, a 38,000-ton aircraft carrier with a full fleet staff and communications officer.April 23, 1941:
CAST reports: 'Akagi carries the new air command, MI KI 99.'April 25, 1941:
Station CAST aims its radio direction finder at the aircraft carrier Akagi, the flagship of the new air commander, Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo (MI KI 99) and reports their position to Washington.
The procedure continues through December 6, 1941.April 30, 1941:
Admiral Nagumo, as MI KT 99, originates radio dispatches while aboard the Akagi.May 1, 1941:
In an attempt to foil American radio eavesdroppers and mask their vast preparations for war, Japan's naval command introduces an entirely new radio code system.
The Imperial Navy calls it the Yobidashi Fugo HYOO 8 (radio call signs edition 8).
It changes every radio address in the Japanese navy.
Japan was positive it would protect the security of the warships, the identification of the officers of the high commanders who made the strategic and tactical decisions, and locations of shore stations/bases of the Combined Fleet.May 5, 1941:
Lieutenant Rudolph J. Fabian, commanding officer of CAST, acquires photographic copies of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy code books.
He obtains 102 negatives of the Imperial Army's code system for General Douglas MacArthur, and 57 negatives of the Imperial Navy's 5-num code and sends them to Washington.
In his written report, Fabian is specific: he secures key elements of the latest edition of the Japanese navy's 5-num-code book.
As this afterword goes to press, secrecy still shrouds these code books.
None of the 159 negatives or the photographic prints of the Japanese military code books obtained by Fabian have been released by the US Navy."
What a relief. I was afraid we were violating the letter and/or spirit of the act.
Do you actually believe that the Japanese strike force headed for Pearl Harbor was foolish enough to broadcast constantly on their journey?
The Lend Lease Act signed by FDR in March pretty much ended US neutrality.
Alois stood stiffly as Hitler passed. Trying to stare straight ahead, he caught a glimpse of the Fuhrer's gaze. Alois would remember that moment for the rest of his life. Hitler's eyes were cold; they looked right through him.
After the troop inspection, Hitler toured the ship. He seemed interested but said almost nothing. When he entered the rear computer room, Heinz, Franz and Adi were sitting at their posts. Their commanding officer described to Hitler how information such as the Bismarck's speed, course, wind-direction and the relative position of the enemy ship was relayed to them from the gunnery control station high above. They fed this information into their machines and sent the calculations swiftly back to the gunnery officers in their control towers. These calculations helped the gunnery officers to correct their aim while firing the big guns in the heat of battle.
At one point Hitler leaned forward to peer more closely at the direction-finding computer. He placed his left hand on Heinz's shoulder and his right hand on Adi's. Neither of them breathed. When the official party had left, the three friends joked about the experience, but they were also proud that their section had been singled out for such attention
After four hours on board, Hitler and his party returned to shore. The thoughts of the ship's company now turned fully toward the mission they all knew was about to begin, although the exact date was still a secret.
That night after supper, Heinz, Adi and Franz met Alois in the canteen where they talked of the day's events "I didn't like the look of the admiral. He looks mean," said Alois. Admiral Gunther Lutjens, who had accompanied Hitler during the inspection. would be in charge of their first foray into the Atlantic Ocean. His reputation as a cold commander was already making the rounds. "I hear he and Captain Lindemann don't get along," added Heinz. "But Lutjens was the one who sank all those British ships in the spring;' replied Adi. "I heard that the men who served under Lutjens all hated him;' persisted Heinz. "Some of them are here on the Bismarck." "I don't care if his mother hates him," Alois said, "as long as he knows what he's doing. The British have more ships than we do. They'd like nothing better than to sink the Bismarck."
The three sailors referenced were among the survivors of Bismarck
Exploring The Bismarck by Robert D Ballard
05 May 1941: Adolf Hitler visits the Bismarck together with Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, the Chief of Fleet Admiral Günther Lütjens, and other personalities. The Führer stays aboard for four hours.
Of course it did. That is what is so strange about the current attitude in the country. There seems to be agreement on all sides of the debate to suspend reality in order to preserve the fantasy of neutrality. I guess the pro-British support side doesn't want to admit to acting outside the rule of law and the isolationist side doesn't want to admit utter defeat.
Page 2-
A college that has gone away.
By the late 1960’s, the war in Vietnam was raging and the public’s viewpoint of the merits of military academy schooling was waning. Much as wagon makers and buggy wing manufacturers had disappeared as the world changed around them with the advent of automobiles, so was the world changing for America’s military academies. Many military academies closed during this timeframe. SMA, while still ranked high in its educational and military credentials, was ill equipped to cope with and survive these changes.
My issue with Stinnett is his poor use of source material. His two biggest faults are taking source material out of context, or not sourcing properly at all. This entry by you is actually a good example of poor sourcing on Stinnett’s part.
All of these entries he is making are from the Crane Files. This is a large repository of files. To put this into perspective, an average microfiche roll from the National Archives will consist of data from one physical box. On an average roll you will have 1500 items. Each item is serialized and it is very important to be clear on the box and serial number of your source so that others can quickly find and read your reference.
Stinnett does not do this well at all. Going straight down your list we have them sourced as follows:
1. Record Group(RG) 38 (All the Crane Files) with mention of Boxes 15, 16, 17, and 18 having Inactive Stations Philippines items. (They also have a lot of other stuff too). No specific box for the Coonce report, or serial number. He also fails to mention that the bulk of the JN-25 material are in boxes 60 and 65.
2. Serial 201540 in RG 38. That’s easier since the boxes are serialized sequentially, but it should have the box number.
3. RG 38, No box, no serial.
4. RG 38, No box, no serial.
5. RG 38, No box, no serial.
6. RG 38, No box, no serial.
7. NSA with box and folder number which would make it easy to find, but coraborating NARA source is again just RG 38 with no box and no serial.
8. RG 38, Box 15, no serial. Still better, but not complete.
This is the type of sloppy scholarship that makes it very hard to take his content seriously. I would like to read some of the source material to see how he has used them, especially since I have found contextual problems with several other of the sources he has used, but it would take a lot of searching to home in on the actual documents because Stinnett does such a poor job of citing it. If this was presented as an academic thesis, it would be thrown back to him with instructions to correct his citation.
Freyburg was a dentist. Courageous to a fault. Dumb as a stump.
The second naval officer from the left is Grand Admiral Erich Raeder. The naval officer leaning into the picture on Hitler’s immediate right is Admiral Guenther Lutjens. The officer to Hitler’s immediate left is Captain Ernst Lindemann, BISMARCK’s commanding officer.
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