[CougarGA7]

With another anti-aircraft regiment headed to Hawaii, the base is becoming one of the most fortified positions for the Americans in the Pacific. On the west coast only Puget Sound and San Francisco are more heavily fortified. This is why the argument that Admiral Richardson felt that Pearl Harbor was vulnerable to attack doesn’t hold water with me. Aside from the fact that he said exactly that in his testimony during the Pearl Harbor investigation, San Diego is not nearly as well defended as Hawaii is right now. If he was worried about being attacked then moving it to a weaker defensive line doesn’t make a lot of sense.

[BroJoeK]

"...This is why the argument that Admiral Richardson felt that Pearl Harbor was vulnerable to attack doesn’t hold water with me.
"Aside from the fact that he said exactly that in his testimony during the Pearl Harbor investigation,..."

Richardson also said it directly to President Roosevelt, around this time in 1940. A few weeks later, White House leaks suggested Richardson will be replaced.

But if you look carefully at the sequence of events leading up to Richardson's firing, one thing that stands out is Richardson's later announcement that he intended to put Pearl Harbor on a war-defensive footing.