Adm Nimitz on Pearl Harbor - T or F?

[Pogo]

Got this in the email today. Wonder how true it is? Certainly sounds good.......

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 everyone 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 America. 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.

[John Dupre]

My first quibble is what concert was playing around 1:15 PM in Washington, DC? If the concert was later that evening why would an already senior Admiral be there instead of Navy headquarters?

My second quibble is would Roosevelt have really called Nimitz to inform him of the promotion? I know Roosevelt was a genuine Navy guy so it might be true but wonder.

[Mark Sampson]

That sounds good but definitely should be researched. There was a story recently from a Fla TV station about the last Coronado flying boat at the Navy museum, and how the pilot of that plane was reunited with it just before his death. The news story explained that that pilot flew Adm. Nimitz into Pearl after the attack and gave details- which don't quite match that story. I'm sure the link I read came off this site, so let the detectives go to work. Not that I disagree with the statements printed above, or can say that Adm. Nimitz never said them...

[JDK]

Missing the carriers proved to be far more important than any of those (nevertheless interesting, good) points- fuel you could perhaps argue.

Regards,

[JohnB]

My first quibble is what concert was playing around 1:15 PM in Washington, DC? If the concert was later that evening why would an already senior Admiral be there instead of Navy headquarters?

My second quibble is would Roosevelt have really called Nimitz to inform him of the promotion? I know Roosevelt was a genuine Navy guy so it might be true but wonder.

I've been to Sunday afternoon concerts...for the cheap seats. While Nimitz probably didn't have that problem (maybe he didn't want to stay up late), there are matinees on weekends.

My guess is FRD would have him come to the White House and tell him of the promotion...and perphas impart a few choice words (and orders) that couldn't be said over a telephone. Considering a trip to Pearl would take at least 24 hours (the PB2Y's cruising speed was under 150 mph) another half-hour (while the plane was being made ready) wouldn't have been a big issue.

And at the risk of disagreeing with JDK, it's possible that at the time, the importance of the carriers wasn't completely understood...even though the attack was done by carrier-based aircraft.
The Battle of Midway was still months in the future. Our collective wisdom wasn't known yet.

[JDK]

And at the risk of disagreeing with JDK, it's possible that at the time, the importance of the carriers wasn't completely understood...even though the attack was done by carrier-based aircraft.
The Battle of Midway was still months in the future. Our collective wisdom wasn't known yet.

No disagreement, I emphasised 'proved' because we now know (that is, it's generally accepted) strategically that the carriers' survival was to be critical in the conduct of the Pacific war.

As to whether Nimitz would see it that way, I have no idea - certainly many (navy and otherwise) thought battleships were still important, rather than the expensive beach-landing fire support that they proved to be.

Regarding the original story, it sounds exactly like the 'twist in the tale' stories the 'did you know' mythmakers love. It wouldn't be hard for a researcher to nail, one way or another though.

Regards,

[Fearless Tower]

Missing the carriers proved to be far more important than any of those (nevertheless interesting, good) points- fuel you could perhaps argue.

Regards,

And that is where God was looking out for America. Most folks today don't atually know how close the Japanese came to catching the carriers in port. If they had waited until 8 December, it would have been a very different story.

[cooper9411]

Had nothing to do with "God"!

[JohnB]

As to whether Nimitz would see it that way, I have no idea - certainly many (navy and otherwise) thought battleships were still important, rather than the expensive beach-landing fire support that they proved to be.

After posting my first answer I got to thinking about it more.
Nmitz's three initial thoughts are all very tactical in nature. Thinking about the carriers is much more strategic...something that would be neeeded in six months (Midway) but less of a concern to a guy trying to reassemble a fleet in the early days of what was promising to be a long war.

Short tem, he had reason to be thankful for the relatrively small (compared to the worse-case scenario he mentions) loss of life and the intact infrastructure that would allow him to rebuild and eventually go after the enemy. Remember too, that carriers were notthe "Be all and end all". They needed a sizable surface fleet for support and protection.

If he did have a conversation with FDR, I'd have loved to be there. Right then, they had the toughest jobs in America...especially Nimitz, a boy from the very dry Texas Hill Country.

[JDK]

After posting my first answer I got to thinking about it more.
Nmitz's three initial thoughts are all very tactical in nature. Thinking about the carriers is much more strategic...something that would be neeeded in six months (Midway) but less of a concern to a guy trying to reassemble a fleet in the early days of what was promising to be a long war.

Very good points.

Whether he really said that - and in public to a very junior sailor makes a great story - which is always a warning bell to the researcher; so often what you've got is 'printing the legend'.

If he did have a conversation with FDR, I'd have loved to be there. Right then, they had the toughest jobs in America...especially Nimitz, a boy from the very dry Texas Hill Country.

Also good points. You could also argue, as many have, that FDR's job had suddenly got a lot easier, in that he didn't need to 'sell' the war to the American people all of a sudden.

Apparently (allegedly!) many of the best of the Royal Canadian Navy's sailors came from the prairies...

Regards

[bilwor]

He wasn't selected to be Commander Pacific Fleet and to be promoted to Admiral until December 17, 1941, effective December 31, 1941.

[JohnB]

If he did have a conversation with FDR, I'd have loved to be there. Right then, they had the toughest jobs in America...especially Nimitz, a boy from the very dry Texas Hill Country.

Also good points. You could also argue, as many have, that FDR's job had suddenly got a lot easier, in that he didn't need to 'sell' the war to the American people all of a sudden.

True, he no longer had to concern himself with the isolationists, but he now had a war to fight and win.

Apparently (allegedly!) many of the best of the Royal Canadian Navy's sailors came from the prairies...
Regards

That thought has always fascinated me. The thought of a Texas/Kansas/Oklahoma farm boy who had never seen a body of water larger than the nearby stock pond signing up and less than a year later finding himself on a ship in the Pacific is something worth considering.
More recently when I lived in Texas, I often travelled to a very small town, the type with one stoplight, a school and a single store. It was a very dry, hot summer.
Just outside of town there was a billboard...on it was a Navy recruiting ad. It pictured a submarine tied to a quay in some exotic tropical locale.
The contrast between the image and its surroundings was startling . And on that hot, dry day, I was ready top sign up myself.

[Fearless Tower]

Had nothing to do with "God"!

That's what you say......to each his own.

[Pogo]

Gentlemen, can we leave religious debates off WIX, please? Thank you.

[Fearless Tower]

Gentlemen, can we leave religious debates off WIX, please? Thank you.

I don't think anyone is debating. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and beliefs.

You posted a quote or possible quote that mentioned divine interaction as a possibility.