To the Editor:
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz was placed in charge of restoring some sense of order after that horrific “Day of Infamy.” He realized the Navy had to move forward while at the same time he had to get answers for the loss of 18 ships sunk (eight being battleships) and the loss of over 3,200 men. A monumental task to say the least.
While touring the area and questioning the admirals and generals who witnessed the carnage he realized the damage could have been worse – much worse. “It was God’s mercy that our fleet was in the shallow waters of Pearl Harbor and not on the open waters of the Pacific Ocean,” he said. He went on to explain that “many of the men were off duty or could escape the ships by swimming ashore.” Of all the ships sunk, only two were beyond salvaging and our only aircraft carrier was out on sea maneuvers and thus spared.
He theorized that “had the ships been at sea all would have been totally lost while as many as 18,000 to 19,000 men would have perished.” Nimitz went on to cite the fact that the Japanese failure to follow up that attack with another one spared us from suffering even more losses. They would have destroyed our submarine base – which later destroyed 75% of all Japanese merchant ships. Left unscathed, by not returning, was our ship repair facilities. The “Land of the Rising Sun” also missed the opportunity to destroy 4.5 million barrels of fuel oil. That alone would have prolonged the war one to two years.
Nimitz later concluded the attack was a dastardly loss, but it could have been worse. What it did accomplish was to give our nation a wake-up call at the time when most people were leaning towards isolationism from the war in Europe and the uneasiness in Japan. Or to paraphrase what Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who led the attack, said afterwards: I’m afraid all that we accomplished was to wake up a sleeping giant.
BOB BAKLEY
Sea Isle City
