I received this story via email. I don’t know if it is true or if it is fiction, but either way, I felt like it was worth passing on. I hope you enjoy the message.
Tour boats ferry people out to the USS Arizona Memorial in Hawaii every thirty minutes. We just missed a ferry and had to wait thirty minutes. I went into a small gift shop to kill time. In the gift shop, I purchased a small book entitled, “Reflections on Pearl Harbor ” by Admiral Chester Nimitz.
Sunday, December 7th, 1941–Admiral Chester Nimitz was attending a concert in Washington D.C. He was paged and told there was a phone call for him. When he answered the phone, it was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the phone. He told Admiral Nimitz that he (Nimitz) would now be the Commander of the Pacific Fleet.
Admiral Nimitz flew to Hawaii to assume command of the Pacific Fleet. He landed at Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve, 1941. There was such a spirit of despair, dejection and defeat–you would have thought the Japanese had already won the war. On Christmas Day, 1941, Adm. Nimitz was given a boat tour of the destruction wrought on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. Big sunken battleships and navy vessels cluttered the waters every where you looked. As the tour boat returned to dock, the young helmsman of the boat asked, “Well Admiral, what do you think after seeing all this destruction?” Admiral Nimitz’s reply shocked everyone within the sound of his voice. Admiral Nimitz said, “The Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could ever make or God was taking care of America . Which do you think it was?” Shocked and surprised, the young helmsman asked, “What do mean by saying the Japanese made the three biggest mistakes an attack force ever made?”
Nimitz explained:
Mistake number one: the Japanese attacked on Sunday morning. Nine out of every ten crewmen of those ships were ashore on leave. If those same ships had been lured to sea and been sunk–we would have lost 38,000 men instead of 3,800.
Mistake number two: when the Japanese saw all those battleships lined in a row, they got so carried away sinking those battleships, they never once bombed our dry docks opposite those ships. If they had destroyed our dry docks, we would have had to tow every one of those ships to America to be repaired. As it is now, the ships are in shallow water and can be raised. One tug can pull them over to the dry docks, and we can have them repaired and at sea by the time we could have towed them to the American mainland . And I already have crews ashore anxious to man those ships.
Mistake number three: every drop of fuel in the Pacific theater of war is in top of the ground storage tanks five miles away over that hill. One attack plane could have strafed those tanks and destroyed our fuel supply. That’s why I say the Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could make or God was taking care of America .
I’ve never forgotten what I read in that little book. It is still an inspiration as I reflect upon it. In jest, I might suggest that because Admiral Nimitz was a Texan, born and raised in Fredricksburg , Texas –he was a born optimist. But anyway you look at it–Admiral Nimitz was able to see a silver lining in a situation and circumstance where everyone else saw only despair and defeatism. President Roosevelt had chosen the right man for the right job. We desperately needed a leader that could see silver linings in the midst of the clouds of dejection, despair and defeat.
There is a reason that our national motto is, IN GOD WE TRUST .
Respectfully submitted by SilenceDogood2010 this Fourteenth Day of June in the Year of our Lord, Two Thousand Eleven.
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No idea if this is a true statement but here is a rebuttal.
Nimitz may be credited with optimism and propping up his troops but here are a couple of other points.
1. I this a historical fact that the failing of the Japanese at Pearl Harbor was immediately known to both them and the Americans – they did not get the carriers which were at sea – their intelligence was wrong or simply timing was not in their favor.
2. They attacked in port because the ships were sitting ducks – they wanted the ships not the men so his point about luring them to sea is nonsense
3. They spent every bomb on ships and planes – wasting it on dry docks would have left more ships afloat – again nonsense
4. Fuel is much easier to replace than any other target – third piece of nonsense
If Nimitz indeed said this, I’m not inclined to think any of it is nonsense.
1.The Japanese wanted the carriers, those were priority targets #1. They hoped to find them at Pearl but never knew their locations a month prior to the attack. They hoped to find ships in Lahina Roads, an alternate anchorage and deep water EXACTLY for the reason Nimitz listed above.
2.The ships would have been lost. They designated submarines equipped with aircraft specifically for locating ships there. (they weren’t) They decided to carry out the attack regardless of whether the carriers were located or not. Regardless of whether the fleet was detected or not. “You must be prepared to fight your way into and out of the target.” The Japanese intelligence was not wrong, it was exactly correct and they knew it.
#3. COMPLETELY Wrong. The Japanese spent a YEAR developing the plan and knew full and well the importance of the fuel farm and the dry dock facilities as well as the Submarine base. They had limited resources and chose to attack the ships. It was not a “spur of the moment” decision, each aircraft of each flight was assigned a specific target and order in which to be attacked. NO NONSENSE.
4. Fuel is easier to replace, but until you replace it YOUR SHIPS CAN NOT MOVE. Congratulations on your deductions. If the fuel farms had been destroyed there was no fuel AT ALL for the fleet. They would not have had enough on board to make it to the West coast, so they would have REALLY been sitting ducks. Furthermore the Japanese themselves in their own investigation after the attack admitted and regretted their target decisions. Interviews with Gordon Prange by almost all of the surviving senior staff and the memoirs and books they wrote also state this. NO NONSENSE.
The Japanese commanding Admiral him self said “I fear we have awoaken a sleeping giant”.
The mistakes outlined in this artical have been proven by the events that followed and how we won the war. Call it nonsense if you wish, history supports the message.
Not an actual quote. He never said it. Hollywood put it in the movie, and Richard Zanuck wrote it. Yes, it expresses the feelings Yamamoto felt after the attack.
We won the war in the Pacific because the Japanese failed to hit our aircraft carriers and because they underestimated the US Navy, the Marines, and our ability to manufacture the wartime material necessary to sustain a long war. Their only goal was targeting ships, period. They cared nothing about men and fuel. They felt if they took out the Pacific Fleet, they would have free reign in the Pacific.
Silly, urban legend, internet crap article about God and all that BS. Nimitz never said it, history does NOT support it. Dumb email filled with stupid inaccuracies. Dick’s nonsense reply only reinforces that.
The book exists; I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the quote but Steve and Ian, you are both missing the point. Yes the Japanese missed getting our carriers but how much use in projecting force across the Pacific would carriers be without the ability to land and protect ground forces?
Also the point about the attack in port on Sunday morning being a mistake is valid not just because of the lower casualty rate (which you both grossly underestimate the importance of) but also because of the fact that if the ships had been lured out to a battle at sea and sunk they would have been lost and irrecoverable in deep water.
Again, the importance of the dry docks being left untouched cannot be over stated. The Japanese had another attack force ready but they lost their nerve fearing the return of our carriers. The fact that we did not have to tow the wrecks to the US mainland for repair was a critical factor in being able to go on the offensive as soon as we did (nearly a year). And even then we nearly lost Guadalcanal because of our navy being spread so thin.
Go ahead and doubt God’s hand in the preservation of this country and your freedoms. I challenge you to go live somewhere out of country for a while and see how you like it.
Shaun, Thank you for reinforcing the key points of the message. Happy “Independence Day”.
Respectfully submitted by SD2010.
Richard Zanuck wrote the line and put it in the movie. Check the DVD.
The Japanes “commanding admiral” never uttered the words, “I fear we have awoken a sleeping giant” or any words to that effect, those were written by a Hollywood screenwriter for the move Tora Tora Tora (along with a host of other inaccuracies in the dreadful movie Pearl Harbor with Alec Baldwin innaccuratley portraying Jimmy Doolittle). Sadly, the movies and TV seems to be where most Americans get their history classes these days. Had he uttered such words, which would be unthinkable at the time and in the culture, for them to be recorded by someone too, he would have been deemed a defeatest and likely removed from command.
Furthermore, sinking a battleship at sea is hugely differnet than sinking one dockside while lightly manned. They are moving, and quickly and they bristle with anti-aircraft guns, or at least did by 1943. Read the real history in James Hornfischer’s books Ship of Ghosts about the loss of the USS Houston, Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors about the destroyers actions during the war and especially Neptune’s Inferno, about naval actions at Guadalcanal.
Read your history. Yamamoto’s writings (influenced by his travels in the States) do indicate that he knew attacking the US was an extreme long shot. He was hoping that isolationism would override revenge. The timing miscalculation by Japanese diplomats on the delivery of the GOJ’s message gave the indication that we were cowardly ambushed – no American would let that go. As for sinking a battleship at sea – correct that they move faster when underway, but they still are vulnerable to well coordinated (or lucky) attacks. British did quite well against the Bismark w/ biplanes carrying torpedoes.
Actually I recommend people read some books on Admiral Nimitz. Please do just look on the internet. If you don’t want to buy books on Admiral Nimitz, please check your local libary.
What was said may or may not be a quote, but it is historically accurate. Most of our military leaders believed in God. They did not want to think a campaigne was won or lost based soley on luck.
Admiral Nimitz was doing more than making a statement to the press or peers, or the people with him. The reason he was sent to take charge of the fleet was due to his ability to quicly access any given situation and quickly formulate a response. And not just any response. He was being counted on to lead others into war. So now with the grace of God, he could lead others into battle to defeat the enemy.
While the conclusions are historically accurate, FDR did not call Nimitz on the phone out of a concert to tell him he was taking over in the Pacific on December 7th. Thats just silly.
In Washington they were clueless as to the extent of the damage for several days (communications being what they were in those days.) Additionally, a full report was not given to FDR/Cabinet/WarDepartment for at least a week and that came from one of his senior cabinet members (i forget who but can look it up,) who happened to be on the way back from the Far East on his own mission. He stopped at Pearl on the way back, surveyed the damage and reported back to Washington DC.
It took at least a week to two weeks for the head hunting in Washington to get in full gear and relieve Admiral Kimmel and General Short, both partial victims of Washington bungling and the usual general unpreparedness of the U.S. forces during peace time (even to this day when Rummy sends soldiers and marines into Iraq and Afghanistan improperly equipped – remember his comment that you go to war with the army you’ve got, not the one you want – when IED’s were blowing up kids in aluminum skinned Hummers?)
I have great sympathy for Kimmel, but, he was ultimately replaced in the weeks after 12/7/41 because he was in fact shell shocked by events.
OK, one more thing. Do you really think that in the 1940’s U.S. Navy, that a “young boat helmsman”, usually the most junior of all sailors on any ship, would have the stones to even look at Admiral Nimitz much less ask him what he thought? An admiral in those days was like GOD himself. Even my day in the 70’s and 80’s an admiral had only been reduced in awe by a couple notches – it would not happen – and if it did, give that kid a medal for bravery!
Bottom line, with the internet believe only 50% of what you read, and of that 50%, still be curious if its right.
Tom/ USN.
Dick,
I believe in what Nimitz said because being a veteran only a man with that kind of insight would have made a statement like that. I have worked with a survivor of pearl harbor and he was of the same thought so if people do not believe it… so be it.
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