World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseHusband Edward Kimmel was born to a US Army major in Henderson, Kentucky, United States. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in Maryland, United States in 1904 as an ordnance specialist, and subsequently served aboard several battleships and destroyers and held other shore posts. With his academic credentials earned at the Naval War College and his impressive career record, he was promoted to the flag rank of rear admiral in 1937 with such responsibilities as being the commander of Cruiser Division Seven on a diplomatic trip to South America, and the commander of Cruisers of Battle Force Fleet. His experience led to his appointment as the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet, with a brevet rank of admiral. In this role, he was said to be a hard worker that inspired subordinates, but some had also criticized that his over-attention to detail betrayed his lack of self-confidence, thus always spending the time to revisit minute tasks he had done previous when he could have delegated the work to others in the first place.

ww2dbaseOn the opening chapter of the United States' involvement in the Pacific War, the location of his headquarters, Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii was subjected to a Japanese raid, which killed over 3,000 and temporarily disabled his fleet. Kimmel, along with his US Army counterpart Lieutenant General Walter Short, was one of the principle scapegoats, and he was relieved from his command merely ten days after the raid and was reverted back to his permanent rank of rear admiral. He was subsequently found guilty of errors of judgement and dereliction of duty, and retired from the US Navy in 1942.

ww2dbaseIn retirement, Kimmel was hired by the military contractor Frederick R. Harris, Inc. He passed away at Groton, Connecticut, United States, in 1968, at the age of 86. It was not until after his death before the United States Senate cleared his name on 25 May 1999, although the Department of Defense would continue to place the blame of the Pearl Harbor disaster on Kimmel and Short. "(Kimmel and Short) were denied vital intelligence that was available in Washington", said Senator William Roth, Jr., noting that they had been made into scapegoats in 1941 to lift blame from other high ranking officers. The attack on Pearl Harbor faced nine investigations, the national attention was clearly unjustly weighted on this single event when, for example, the same unpreparedness for Japanese aggression was equally as great at the Philippine Islands. When President Franklin Roosevelt ordered Supreme Court Justice Owen Roberts to head up the investigative commission, which was appropriately named the Robers Commission, many argue that Roosevelt had much political motivation in mind. By charging Kimmel and Short with failure to defend the important American military bases at the Territory of Hawaii, Roosevelt paved himself a path to take military action against Japanese aggression that he had long wished to intervene, and cleared himself of any faults of his own for his re-election campaign in 1944.

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4.  BILL says:
9 Mar 2009 11:52:43 AM

Kimmel should have acted on his own, even if denied vital intel. He should have worked with the army and had forces on 24hr alert, had air patrols, he should have had a "gut feeling"

5.  BILL says:
9 Mar 2009 12:11:53 PM

As a Military Commander he should have remembered the British raid on the Italian fleet at Taranto, Italy on 11/12 Nov. 1940, and that was in the enemies home waters. The aircraft used by the British were Fairey Swordfish with a maximum speed of 139mph and was obsolete at the start of WWII. Kimmel should have asked himself the question, could such an attack happen at pearl? his staff should have pointed this out, and provided Kimmel with information, and he should have taken action on his own!

6.  Bill says:
23 Jan 2010 04:55:51 PM

How could they possibly be Japanese planes?

-Husband E. Kimmel-

8.  Alan Chanter says:
1 Feb 2015 07:11:57 AM

Kimmel who had been promoted over thirty-two Admirals to his position as C-in-C Pacific Fleet was far from complacent. To counter a surprise attack by fast carrier based aircraft he had time and again pressed for a pool of 250 reconnaissance aircraft - but the Navy Department, seeing a more pressing need elsewhere, refused to supply them. Thus, when Halsey's carriers were absent on a mission, Kimmel was forced to keep his battleships anchored in Pearl Harbor for lack of air cover. In June 1941, the caustic Kentuckian Admiral, who saw Pearl Harbor as "a damned mousetrap" told President Roosevelt the unpalatable truth that: "if they sink one ship in the entrance of the harbour they have the whole fleet bottled up and it can't get out," he emphasised, "the only place for the fleet to be if the Japanese should attack is at sea, and not in port." Colonel Knox's Navy Department chose to ignore the advice of their Commander on the spot.

9.  David Stubblebine says:
2 Feb 2015 05:03:36 PM

Kimmel was deprived key intelligence yet the lion’s share of the blame was laid on him. MacArthur in the Philippines was already on full alert and had 10 hours advance notice. How much better did he do than Kimmel? (NOT!) Yet he was exalted above all others, held sway over Nimitz throughout the war and became the virtual king of Japan after the surrender. The Navy brass started the war by harpooning Kimmel and ended the war by harpooning Charles Butler McVay – not a very honorable showing overall.

Kimmel may not have performed perfectly but he was a good sailor and deserved better. He deserves better from us too.

13.  David Stubblebine says:
19 Nov 2018 03:19:03 PM

Anonymous (above):
The book you are referring to is likely *Admiral Kimmel's Story* by Husband Kimmel (1955). I am not familiar with this book but I have ordered it and hope to get a review of it up on this site soon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007DMB02/