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).*