"Inherent Invulnerability" of Pearl Harbor
Making an attack against Pearl Harbor was unimaginable to many because the depth of Pearl Harbor was generally less than 40 ft (12 m). Such depths were widely believed insufficient for torpedo attack; at the time, a torpedo dropped from a plane dove deeply before rising again to running depth. In water that was not deep enough (like Pearl Harbor) the torpedo would hit the bottom, detonating or embedding itself in the mud.
Not all in the U.S. Navy shared this opinion. A mock air attack on Pearl Harbor during war games in the 1930s was judged to have been a success. Shortly after taking office, Navy Secretary Knox wrote an overview memo which specifically noted the possibility of an attack at Pearl Harbor. However, neither observation led to formal policy recommendations to forestall such an attack. Admiral James O. Richardson, who was fired by President Roosevelt for refusing to station the Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, blamed the President for the "initial defeats in the Pacific" as "direct, real and personal." Richardson believed stationing the fleet in Pearl Harbor made the ships extremely vulnerable against attack and provided a poor and unstrategic defense.
Read more about this topic: Pearl Harbor Advance-knowledge Conspiracy Theory
Famous quotes containing the words inherent, pearl and/or harbor:
“Being a parent is a form of leadership. . . . Parents make a mistake, along with leaders of organizations, when they are unwilling to recognize the power inherent in the positions they occupy and when they are unwilling to use this power. . . . I do not mean a figure who is irrational, autocratic, or sadistic. I mean leaders who have the strength of character to stand up for what they believe.”
—Abraham Zaleznik. In Support of Families, ed. Michael W. Yogman and T. Berry Brazelton, ch. 8 (1986)
“Then must you speak
Of one that loved not wisely but too well;
Of one not easily jealous, but being wrought,
Perplexed in the extreme; of one whose hand,
Like the base Judean threw a pearl away
Richer than all his tribe.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land,
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.”
—Emma Lazarus (1849–1887)