024 - The Fate of Admiral Kimmel

A Matter of Timing.

You could call Admiral Husband E. Kimmel the unluckiest man on earth come December 1941. It would be hard to say that on the first of the month, but by the 7^th,, all opinions about his command would change as 2400 soldiers, sailors, and Marines were dead in Hawaii and someone had to be held accountable. Still, the U.S. Navy was at war and there were troubles all throughout the Pacific.

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At Wake Island, a small band of 450 Marines armed with 18 small artillery pieceshad held out against a fleet of thirteen Japanese ships. To people in the States, this was heroic; to Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, his troops at Wake needed his help – after all, Wake Island was the closest military base to Japan. Kimmel assembled Task Force 14, which was comprised of the carrier Saratoga, three heavy cruisers, ten destroyers, and three support ships. The Task Force went through shakedown and refueling at Pearl Harbor on December 15^th.

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As the Task Force departed for Wake Island on the morning of December 16th, Admiral Kimmel was demoted to Rear Admiral and Captain William Pye, the former commander of the battleship California, was promoted to Vice Admiral and replaced Kimmel, as a temporary Commander of the Pacific Fleet.

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Even with the new Fleet Commander appointment, President Roosevelt, back in Washington D.C., had the burden of dealing with outrage over the “disaster at Pearl”. In response, he appointed a fact-finding commission headed by Supreme Court Justice Owen Roberts. The Roberts Commission would take a month to interview over 100 witnesses to the Pearl Harbor Attack before they made their decision. However, the Navy had already made its decision. The demotion of Kimmel and appointment of Pye would decide the fate of the men stationed at Wake Island.