Posted on 12/06/2014 4:51:05 PM PST by Jacquerie
Adm. James Richardson strongly disagreed about permanently docking navy ships in Pearl Harbor, believing that the Japanese would feel threatened by the proximity of America's Pacific fleet and organize a preemptory attack.
With their exposed and isolated location, the ships would be vulnerable to any such aggression. He also recognized that the navy did not have the manpower to fight a war in the Pacific in 1940. He relayed these concerns to all who would listen and protested the decision to politicians in Washington. In response, Pres. Franklin Delano Roosevelt relieved Richardson of his command.
This biography covers Richardson's life from moderate beginnings to the investigations by the army and navy into shortcomings at Pearl Harbor, detailing his influences on the military.
Europe is damned lucky the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor, otherwise we would have sat out the war until everyone, including the Brits, were speaking German.
Thanks ... on Amazon wish list ...
“but, the Germans didn’t...”
“Let him go, he’s rolling”
CC
Too damn funny.
I need to rent that over the holidays and knock back a bottle of Oban Scotch...
Patton warned of the possibility also.
http://www.army.mil/article/49030/patton-warns-of-pearl-harbor-attack/
Please. Everybody knows the Germans bombed Pearl Bailey.
I know that T.R. was but didn’t FDR also consider himself a Naval expert?
Pft!!!
LOL!!!
I wuz drinking a Diet Coke and got some on muh keyboard.
LOL!!!
Didn’t come out my nose though!
He was assistant secretary of the Navy under Wilson. Of course this is politics, that doesn’t mean he was qualified.
having been born on 07DEC51 i have visited and read a lot. there are eyewitness accounts of germans flying the japanese planes, a bomb going down the stack of ARIZONA as well as her being torpedoed.
i am still uncertain about a midget sub getting into the harbor and torpedoing OKLAHOMA.
i do not believe fdr and churchill knew about it and deliberately didn’t warn them. it was more an intelligence failure that looked more at intentions (what would we do) vs capability ( we didn’t put all our carriers in one group so no one else would).
i also believe there is a better than average chance we would not have declared war on japan if they had not attacked pearl harbor, bypassed the philippines and just attacked the colonial empires of france, holland, and britain.
Or was it Minnie Pearl.
Richardson’s most stunning claim was that his superiors specifically vetoed his plan to use newly arrived PBYs to mount aerial patrols to the northwest of Hawaii. Such patrols might well have detected and warned of the approach of the Jap attack force.
Nonetheless, a PBY spotted a Jap midget submarine early in that morning. We were only lucky the Japs didn’t attack our fuel depots.
Hillary says we should have empathized with Togo and the Japanese Empire.
Sweet!!!
Pearl Bailey was bombed? I thought it was W. C. Field that was bombed, or was it his cousin, Hickam Field?
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