1942

“Your ability to pace like that. It must help you relieve your frustrations. Me? All I can do is rock back and forth in this confounded chair. If I feel really energetic, I can sort of sway a little.”

King flushed and sat down. “Sorry, sir.”

Two of the three others in the room chuckled. The exception was the army chief of staff, General George C. Marshall, who made it a personal point never to laugh at Roosevelt’s jokes. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson and Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox were the others in attendance. This was a war meeting, and there was likely to be little input from the two civilian secretaries.

“Well,” Roosevelt said to King, “give us your opinion.”

“Mr. President, if the Japs have any idea how weak we are in the Pacific, they will attack Hawaii. Until the fuel situation is resolved, there is very little we can do to stop them should they wish to invade. Very simply, our ships in the Pacific do not have enough fuel for combat patrols or to mount an effective campaign against the Japs. Further, the ships we now have on the Pacific coast can cruise to Hawaii and back but would also have very little in reserve for any combat patrols or other actions.”

“I don’t understand,” said Marshall. “I thought that many of our warships had cruising ranges in excess of ten thousand miles, and Hawaii is only twenty-three hundred miles from San Francisco.”

“That’s correct,” King answered. “But our ships must keep enough in reserve to return for more fuel, and that’s California until our Hawaiian facilities are repaired. Thus, almost half a ship’s fuel is going to be used just coming and going. Also, that ten-thousand-mile range is at a ship’s most effective speed, which is usually far below a combat speed. Under even the best of circumstances, a ship cannot count on its range as being a real indicator. Other variables, such as weather, can affect it adversely.”

King smiled slightly as he warmed to his lecture. It wasn’t often he got a chance to educate his army counterpart, and he relished it. And, last, while on patrol, the larger warships, like the battleships and carriers, often act as tankers for the smaller ships, such as the destroyers, which further erodes any range figures.”

“Well then, what about sending tankers with the fleet?” Marshall asked.

King had been promoted from commanding the Atlantic Fleet, where he had been primarily concerned with running the undeclared war against Nazi Germany that had just become a fully declared war with Japan. As a result, he had to pause and recall before he answered.

“A simple answer, General. We do not have enough tankers to support major fleet operations. That can and will be rectified by requisitioning tankers from the merchant fleet, but it will still take months before we have enough to make a difference.”

“Are you suggesting the fleet should abandon Pearl?” Roosevelt asked.

“I’ve told Nimitz it’s his call. I will support whatever he recommends. But yes, I do think he will recommend that we pull what’s left of the fleet back to California, where it was until last summer, and lick our wounds. If the oil depot can be repaired and replenished without Jap interference, then we can move back fairly quickly. Until then, we are just too vulnerable at Pearl Harbor.

“Let’s face it,” King added. “Without the ability to mount effective patrols, the navy is almost as blind as it was on December 7. If the Japs launch a force and hold to radio silence, any warning would be counted in hours, not days. Even our Magic intercepts were useless, remember.”

The mention of Magic intercepts referred to the fact that the United States had been deciphering Japan’s diplomatic code for some time, and had been making progress in unlocking the secrets of the military codes. Even so, those abilities had not helped to prevent the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Japanese diplomatic codes had made no reference to any specific action, and the Japanese fleet had kept remarkably tight radio silence as it steamed toward Hawaii. There were times when technology was ineffective and old-fashioned methods proved best.

Marshall nodded grimly. “Then I will make no effort to reinforce General Short until the situation is resolved. Until we can establish naval and air parity, it won’t matter how many soldiers I ship over. Short will have to make do with the resources he has.”

Marshall paused and then added, “I’ve also directed Short to put on hold the reorganization of the Hawaiian Division into the 24th and 25th Infantry Divisions.”

The general briefly explained that the Hawaiian Division was a large World War I-type division that had been organized for trench warfare in Europe in 1917. He had been reorganizing all the army’s divisions into smaller and more mobile units, and the Hawaiian Division was one of the few left to make over.