Pearl Harbor

How do you explain how Nimitz avoided this disaster completely? I think
he was just smart and well informed. He knew PH could be attacked by a
carrier force and it was a hard place to defend, being in the middle of the
Pacific. He also knew, he would have limited resources, and that FDR's
focus was on politics, not sound military strategy.

He took the command after the war started, because he would get all the
stuff he needed, well eventually he would anyway.

 

Rafting ships (or "double parking") has been a common Navy practice around the world for centuries. It's how you get the most out of a small area. Pearl Harbor was pretty crowded, and even in the best of situation, there's not a lot of docking space.

 

The point I'm trying make here is, like Adm Richardson & Nimtz saw there
were problems with the fleet being at PH. Big enough problems to turn
down a very coveted command. A navy man works his whole life for a
command like that.

I believe Richardson confessed, in his autobiography, to being less than
honest and open, during all those hearings. I don't have the book, so
that's why I say I believe. These makes perfect sence to me. After the
disaster, it was best for our nation, to rally around the President, win the
war, etc. Richardson chose not to play the blame game and so did Nimitz.

Nimitz never wrote his memouris. I suspect he didn't want to lie and
didn't want the blame for the disaster to get out either, so he just
didn't write any.

 

"As for Richardson, you saying he admitted to lying under oath"?

I did look at that book, as I remember he admits to being less that open,
or something like that. I knew you going to do this. That's why I said I
believe. I looked at this book a while ago and remember exactly.

Right on the cover of Pearl Harbor Countdown. It says: "I do believe that
the US Fleet would not have been at Pearl Harbor, Dec 7, 1941, had I
been Chief of Naval Operations at the time".

Doesn't that kinda some up what he thought? I think it does. The fleet was designed and built (in about 1915)to protect the US Coast, against other dreadnoughts. It was not going to be much good against a Jap
carrier strike force. So, it should not have been forward deployed in the
first place.