According to my grandfather, the destroyers were told to scatter to no place in particular. GIven that battleships are equipped to spend months at sea at a time, it seems quite a coincidence that they all had to be called in at once. I think the inspections, replenishment, etc., would be accomplished much more efficiently if done one or two ships at a time. If all were called in at once, just in time for the Japanese to hit them, it seems to be more than “questionable.” It seems Obamaworthy.
“If all were called in at once, just in time for the Japanese to hit them, it seems to be more than “questionable.†“
If you look at the history of the pre-war Japanese intelligence activities in Hawaii, you’ll find the Japanese were relying upon the habit of the Pacific Fleet to bring much of the fleet into port on Sundays. Some of the Pearl Harbor investigations noted the problem faced by the commanders to practice economy in a period of very limited U.S. Government military budgets while at the same time responding to the weeks old war warnings. Bringing the fleet into port was a part of the cost cutting measures. The major warships consumed massive quantities of expensive bunker fuel while at sea. The U.S. Government had not yet adopted the wartime profligacy of vastly increased wartime budget appropriations.