V.
RELATIONS IN GENERAL BETWEEN NAVY AND ARMY COMMANDERS
A.
IN WASHINGTON
General
Marshall said that he held frequent consultations with Admiral Stark and that
their relations were excellent (page 856).
B.
IN HAWAII
The
Navy and Army witnesses were unanimously of the opinion that relations between
the Navy and Army commanders in Hawaii were satisfactory.
Admiral
Pye stated that the cooperation between General Short and Admiral Kimmel was
greater than had ever existed previously between such commanding officers (page
441).
Admiral
Delaney stated that there was complete cooperation between the higher echelon
of the Army and the Navy at Pearl Harbor (page 507).
Admiral
Smith testified that relations between Admiral Kimmel and General Short were
very close and that there was a free exchange of military information (page
536).
Admiral Smith said that "Admiral Kimmel assumed command
only a week or two before General Short arrived. Before General Short had taken
over as Commanding General, Admiral Kimmel went around to see him; both were in
civilian clothing, and discussed all the problems of the Pacific as Kimmel saw
them. The relations between General Short and Admiral Kimmel were better than
those I had ever seen between a commanding general and an admiral, either there
or in other places. They were together, I should say, at least twice a week,
very frequently with their Staffs, and sometimes more frequently than that. We
always invited the Army to take part in our exercises, and then developed a
relation such that Army planes would use Navy fields and Navy planes would use
Army fields. It was found that the bombs of one would not fit the racks of the
other, and that was remedied. The relations between the Army and the Navy out
there were excellent." (p. 35)
Admiral
Smith said that Admiral Kimmel never felt that Admiral Bloch was General
Short's opposite number, rather Admiral Kimmel felt that he was General Short's
opposite; he felt that when he was present he was the
380 CONGRESSIONAL
INVESTIGATION PEARL HARBOR ATTACK
man
who should deal with the Army and with everything himself; he took that
responsibility although that might not have been indicated on the official
documents. However, Admiral Smith did not recall that this left Admiral Bloch
in any state of uncertainty; Admiral Kimmel had a great deal of respect for
Admiral Bloch. (p. 36)
Admiral Smith said that the method of command in effect in
Hawaii as between the Army and Navy was the method of mutual cooperation, but
that CincPac had the predominate interest which General Short recognized and
that the Navy was not very much impressed with the Army's provision for defense
of Pearl Harbor and realized that any defense of Pearl Harbor would have to be
by the Fleet itself, "which it was." (p. 36)
Admiral Smith said that "Kimmel's attitude was that
Bloch was under his command and that when he was in port, he had the
responsibility and he dealt directly with Short. Probably one reason was that
he had a force that Admiral Bloch did not have, but he felt that Bloch was his
subordinate while in port, and he dealt directly with the Army. Usually, however,
he would call in Admiral Bloch if he had anything important to say." (p.
36)
Admiral Smith said that the primary reason why the Army and
Navy business was conducted by Admiral Kimmel and not by Admiral Bloch was that
after Admiral Kimmel moved ashore in the summer of 1941 and was there all the
time practically, he just assumed that responsibility of a permanent nature.
That responsibility included the responsibility for the safety of the Fleet for
it was realized that the only defense would be by the Fleet and that there was
no defense ashore except the net or the gate. (p 37)
However, Admiral Smith thought that it was Admiral Kimmel's
intention in issuing his security order that the tasks therein prescribed for
the Commandant of the Fourteenth Naval District involving coordination with the
Army, should be performed directly by Admiral Bloch. (p. 37)
Admiral
Calhoun said that Kimmel and Short were on excellent terms and crated fully
(pages 936‑937).
Admiral
Kitts said that relations between Admiral Kimmel and General Short cordial and
cooperative (page 523:)
According
to Admiral McMorris, the relations of Kimmel and Short were cordial and
cooperative, as to the development of plans for local defense and for
utilization of fleet units in port for local defense, there may, from time to
time, have been differences of opinion, but relations were habitually pleasant
(page 901).
Admiral DeLany said that the relationship between the Army
and the Navy out there was one of complete understanding and was very close.
(p. 78)
Vice Admiral McMorris
testified with respect to whether the cordiality in relations as they existed
between Admiral Kimmel and General Short extended down to elements of the
staffs, that there was much interchange of
information. on a habitual informal
basis; that he himself not infrequently saw members of General Short's staff.
He stated that he knew that General Martin sand Admiral Bellinger had meetings
not infrequently.
He stated further that
prior to joining Admiral Kimmel's staff, he was Operations Officer for Admiral
Andrews, who was Commander of the Hawaiian Detachment and Senior Officer
Present in Hawaii until the Fleet came out sometime during 1940; that during
that period he frequently visited Fort Shafter and discussed defensive plans
with the Army officers, and that after joining Admiral Kimmel's staff, his
association at Fort Shafter with the Army continued. He stated that he felt he
was not exceptional in that respect (p. 832‑383).
Captain
Ramsey said that he did not usually attend Army‑Navy conferences but
sometimes went with Admiral Bellinger. In general, cooperation between the Army
and the Navy was very good (page 587).
Commander
Rochefort, in charge of combat intelligence at 14ND, testified that relations
between the Army and Navy were satisfactory and they worked closely together
(page 476).
Admiral
Bloch testified that his personal relations with General Short were friendly
and his official relations were good. They had no serious disagreements and
cooperated fully (page 408).
Admiral Bloch said that Admiral Kimmel moved his offices
ashore in February 1941, almost immediately after he assumed command and with
the exception of possibly a couple of trips as sea and one trip to Washington,
he
PROCEEDINGS OF
HEWITT INQUIRY 381
was
there the entire time although his intention, in the event of hostilities, was
that he would go to sea. (p. 7) Admiral Bloch said that Admiral Kimmel's
presence ashore did not make him either unhappy or embarrassed. His relations
with Admiral Kimmel were extremely good and his relations with the Commanding
General were cordial and their cooperation, he thought, was good. But the
Commanding General had a right to go to Admiral Kimmel directly and he also had
a right to discuss matters with Admiral Bloch and on one or two occasions
Admiral Bloch didn't know whether General Short had discussed particular
matters with Admiral Kimmel or whether he was coming to Admiral Bloch in the
first instance. This, however, did not cause any disagreement because Admiral
Bloch talked everything over fully with Admiral Kimmel and Admiral Bloch did
not think that there had been any doubt in his mind as to where he stood in the
picture. (p. 7)
Admiral Bloch had subordinates who dealt with the Army
constantly concerning the matters in connection with the Joint Coastal Defense
Plan. Among these were Captain J. B. Earle, Chief of Staff and Commander C. B.
Momsen, the War Plans Officer and Captain Graham, the District Communications
Officer: They had no serious differences of opinion with the Army. Some matters
were referred to Washington but they were always settled. Admiral Bloch thought
that their preparations were being prosecuted very vigorously. (p. 8) .
General
Marshall was informed that relations between Short and Kimmel and Bloch were
excellent (page 856).
According
to Admiral Kimmel his relations with General Short were "O. K." in
all respects (pages 367‑8).
General
Short testified that in matters of cooperation with the Navy he dealt with
Admiral Bloch on routine matters and with Admiral Kimmel on matters of
importance. He frequently conferred with both. There were no regular
conferences, but conferences were held from time to time. He and Admiral Kimmel
were friendly personally and officially (pages 220‑21).
Colonel
Phillips said that relations between General Short and Admiral Kimmel were very
good, and that General Short, Admiral Kimmel, and Admiral Bloch conferred
frequently, and that relations between them were cordial and cooperative (pages
482, 493).*