Pearl Harbor

gut Senior Member

18,369 posts 117 reps Joined Nov 2009

Mon, Dec 7, 2020 3:58 PM

I'm sure there are probably a few experts here. We've all seen the movies, but the idea that we intentionally let it happen still seems pretty far fetched to me.

The question is how exactly were we surprised? I suppose the technology wasn't really there for passive monitoring, but did we really have our heads in the sand and weren't actively patrolling?

I'm sure they had picked up chatter. So it's hard to believe we didn't have active patrols, or that they actually got past us (which, I assume, is why the conspiracy theories have legs).

ptown_trojans_1 Moderator

8,788 posts 20 reps Joined Nov 2009

Mon, Dec 7, 2020 4:12 PM

The attack on Pearl Harbor, before 9/11, was the greatest miss in US military history. The miss and study on how we missed it was one of the main reasons we created the CIA, NSA, and DIA in 1947. It also was heavily studied as we looked to avoid the same mistake during the Cold War. I studied it quite a bit back in school.

There is a ton of good intel reading on how we missed it.

A really good one, probably the best one, is Pearl Harbor: Warning and Decision by Roberta Wohlstetter. https://www.amazon.com/Pearl-Harbor-Decision-Roberta-Wohlstetter/dp/0804705984

Another book came out a few years ago: Countdown to Pearl Harbor: The Twelve Days to Attack.

https://www.amazon.com/Countdown-Pearl-Harbor-Twelve-Attack/dp/1476776466/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=&linkCode=ll1&tag=smithsonianco-20&linkId=e7bc504e5b32e740c3025bec26779286

A few articles too:

https://www.nsa.gov/Portals/70/documents/about/cryptologic-heritage/historical-figures-publications/publications/wwii/pearl_harbor_revisited.pdf

https://foreignpolicy.com/2012/01/03/the-ten-biggest-american-intelligence-failures/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-almost-everyone-failed-prepare-pearl-harbor-1-180961144/

Automatik Senior Member

15,737 posts 99 reps Joined Nov 2009

Mon, Dec 7, 2020 4:41 PM

I can't answer the OP question, but I do recommend watching the WW2 in color docuseries on Netflix. It is AWESOME.

Zunardo Senior Member

815 posts 15 reps Joined Nov 2010

Mon, Dec 7, 2020 7:08 PM

posted by gut
The question is how exactly were we surprised? I suppose the technology wasn't really there for passive monitoring, but did we really have our heads in the sand and weren't actively patrolling?

I've always been struck by reports of how the radar operators spotted the initial wave of 100-some planes early that morning and wrote it off as a B-17 squadron doing exercises or something such.

Even with radar being a new technology, it almost seemed ignoring that signal could have been part of a greater conspiracy - or was it just fear of not making waves?

Here's an interesting article about a historian's correspondence with one of the radar techs until that tech passed away in 2003:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-man-who-tried-to-stop-pearl-harbor

BRF Senior Member

11,621 posts 111 reps Joined Nov 2009

Mon, Dec 7, 2020 10:27 PM

We got caught with our pants down. Period. #vball10set

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0 posts 0 reps Joined Dec 2020

Wed, Dec 9, 2020 10:25 PM

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Gardens35 Senior Member

5,888 posts 39 reps Joined Nov 2009

Wed, Dec 9, 2020 10:32 PM

Welcome to OC.

Laley23 GOAT

33,369 posts 133 reps Joined Nov 2009

Wed, Dec 9, 2020 10:50 PM

posted by BRF
We got caught with our pants down. Period. #vball10set

How so? Did people think Tribe was bringing him back? I assumed he was gone once the season ended.

jmog Senior Member

7,737 posts 52 reps Joined Nov 2009

Thu, Dec 10, 2020 6:47 AM

posted by Automatik
I can't answer the OP question, but I do recommend watching the WW2 in color docuseries on Netflix. It is AWESOME.

Agreed 100%

Dr Winston O'Boogie Senior Member

3,345 posts 36 reps Joined Oct 2010

Thu, Dec 10, 2020 8:00 AM

posted by Laley23
How so? Did people think Tribe was bringing him back? I assumed he was gone once the season ended.

Admiral Tojo never signed with the Tribe however. He flirted with the idea once he became a free agent. In the end, he just felt that waging a naval war in the Pacific was a better fit for him.

Laley23 GOAT

33,369 posts 133 reps Joined Nov 2009

Thu, Dec 10, 2020 9:12 AM

posted by Dr Winston O'Boogie
Admiral Tojo never signed with the Tribe however. He flirted with the idea once he became a free agent. In the end, he just felt that waging a naval war in the Pacific was a better fit for him.

Lol, saw BRF and just assumed it was the Tribe thread.

BRF Senior Member

11,621 posts 111 reps Joined Nov 2009

Thu, Dec 10, 2020 10:51 AM

posted by Laley23
Lol, saw BRF and just assumed it was the Tribe thread.

You are always the practical one when it comes to the Tribe. I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve.

LOL at your comment placement on this thread, though!

Dr Winston O'Boogie Senior Member

3,345 posts 36 reps Joined Oct 2010

Thu, Dec 10, 2020 12:14 PM

posted by Laley23
Lol, saw BRF and just assumed it was the Tribe thread.

Hey, it was good for a chuckle.

Pearl Harbor

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