Admiral Kimmel is still accused of not having had his AA batteries at the ready on
December 7, 1941. He is also accused of not having had many of his ships elsewhere
than in harbor although his most important units, two carriers and the fastest
escorts he could provide were away on errands - which still raise questions - ordered
by Washington. Some weeks later, Adm. Nimitz thanked Heaven that Kimmel had not sent
any ship at sea to be irretrievably lost that morning.
Lt. Gen. Short is still accused of having parked his aircraft close together to prevent
sabotage, although even Gen. Arnold, chief of the Army Air Forces, told him to do
so on November 28.
The ships anchored at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 had no rapid-fire, short-range and effective AA against low-flying aircraft, nor were there any guns worthy of that name on shore.
The Royal Navy turned down Swiss Oerlikon 20mm. and Swedish Bofors (Pom Pom) 40mm. AA guns,
on "not invented here" grounds, but did get them in time for the Murmansk convoys,
cleaning skies, and even before. The British say the US Navy got them in a hurry
(under license) only in 1942.
At Taranto (Nov. 1940) the Italians, who had warning due to intense British reconnaissance
and were ready, shot down with a hail of fire only 2 Swordfish planes, killing one crew.
They also had the problem of not firing at each other, so low were those bi-planes
flying.
In 1941, without Oerlikons and Bofors, AA was only a lottery-luck affair. It follows that,
whether the Pearl Harbor ships' AA guns were manned or not, and they were manned at 90%,
hitting raiders was next to impossible. A few planes were shot down only because there
were so many in the sky. If, instead, the attack had been somewhat less of a surprise,
the AA results would have been exactly the same. Only the P-40 fighters could have made
some difference. And discount radar-directed fire; there was no such thing in terms of
real usefulness in '41, whatever some biased authors suggest today.
From Adm. Kimmel's book:
Although the battleships of the fleet were all approximately the same age as the heavy ships of the Japanese Navy, our ships were particularly deficient in short-range antiaircraft weapons.
Months before the attack, Kimmel had begged for Oerlikons. The only ones at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, a pair of them, were below deck, crated, waiting to pass muster, on the AA training and target ship USS Utah (BB 31/AG-16), a former WW I battleship. The crates sank with the ship.
The Japanese had adopted Oerlikons since 1936 or 1937.
That was probably how the few US TBDs, who somehow survived the Zeros, were finished at Midway.
Given the speed and linear aiming time of those aircraft to launch their torpedoes, the Oerlikons
were for the Japanese, at that time, almost as efficient as Phalanx guns.
List of Armament Documents
Record Group 80, Stack Area 370, Row 17, Compartment 6, Shelf 4
Box 143: Secretary of Chief of Naval Operations 1940-41
- Memo, July 14, 1941, Subject: Fleet Machine Gun, Bofors and Oerlikon guns;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 - Memo, July 21, 1941, Subject: Oerlikon 20mm machine guns; priority of installation;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 | 2 - Letter, August 4, 1941, Subject: 20mm antiaircraft machine guns; priority of installation;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 - Memo, August 22, 1941; Subject: 20mm antiaircraft machine guns; priority of installation;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 | 2 - Letter, August 29, 1941 Subject: 20mm antiaircraft machine guns; priority of installation; Modification of previous letter;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 | 2
- Memo, September 6, 1941, Document# 34933, Subject: Production of Antiaircraft Guns;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 - Letter, September 8, 1941, Subject: 20mm antiaircraft machine guns-priority of installation; Modification of previous letter;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 - Letter, September 9, 1941, Document# 35028: Subject: Destroyers (DD453 & DD459 Classes) Ammunition stowage for 20mm antiaircraft guns;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 | 2 - Letter, September 18 and 30, 1941, Document# 35413, Subject: 20mm Antiaircraft Machine Guns – Priority of Installation;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 - Letter, September 20, 1941, Document# 35561, Subject: 20mm Antiaircraft machine guns – priority of installation;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 - Memo, October 11, 1941, Subject: Ultimate Armament Summary (Sheets 1-7) correction to;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 - Letter October 18, 1941, Subject: Allocation of Production on 20mm Antiaircraft machine guns;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1
- Letter, October 31, 1941, Subject: DD348-355 – Recommended changes in military characteristics to improve the armament of;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
Folder: S74-1/BB
- Letter, November 26, 1941, Document# 38432, Subject: A.A. Modernization-Battleships 36-46 included, Battleship 48 – Comments Concerning;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
- Memo, November 12, 1941, Subject: 20mm Machine guns – Status;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 - Letter, November 25, 1941, Subject: Antiaircraft Guns – Priority of Installation;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 - Memo, December 1, 1941, Subject: 20mm allocation priorities for period Dec. 1941-April 1942;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 | 2 | 3 - Letter, December 9, 1941, Document# 39173, Subject: 20mm Anti-Aircraft Guns for Ships now under overhaul at Navy Yard Mare Island;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 | 2 | 3 - Letter: December 31, 1941, Subject: Protection for Machine Gun Crews, Tables of Range Limits of Effectiveness of Shields. December 13, 1941 - mentions 20mm and 40mm guns;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15
Folder: S74-1
- Letter, October 8, 1941, Document# 36347, Subject: Destroyers 356-363 – Proposed alterations to improve Anti-Aircraft Battleyard Provide Splinter Protection;
Scans: Folder cover | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
- Memo: October 27, 1941, Subject: Destroyers 364-379 – Proposed Alterations to Improve Antiaircraft Battery and Provide Splinter Protection;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
- Letter, September 18, 1941, Document# 35438, Subject: Destroyers 356-363 – Alterations to Improve Anti-Aircraft Battery and Provide Splinter Protection; Attachment of Blueprint for DD356-363;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | attachment - Memo, October 27, 1941, Document# 36842, Subject: Destroyers 364-379 – Proposed Alterations to Improve Antiaircraft Battery and Provide Splinter Protection; Attachment of Blueprint for DD364-379;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | attachment - Letter, October 31, 1941, Document# 38602, Subject: DD348-355 – Recommended Changes in Military Characteristics to Improve the Armament of;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
Folder: S74-1
- Letter, November 18, 1941, Document# 38139, Subject: DD364-379 – Alterations to Improve Anti-Aircraft Battery;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 | 2 | 3
- Letter, October 28, 1940, Subject: British 2-pounder A.A. machine gun (40mm Pom Pom);
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1 - Letter, June 12, 1940, Subject: Bofors 40mm twin A.A. mount;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1
- Memo, November 14, 1941, Subject: Disposition of 20mm Antiaircraft guns;
Scans: Folder cover | Folder back | 1
Box 2: Armament Summaries 1941-1957
