Ready Room Blog
2/25/2024
Webinar: Racing the Rising Sun
The months leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor were marked by a divided focus for the United States: an unwavering commitment to avoid another European war alongside an equally resolute determination to defend America. With attention largely fixed on the Nazi regime in Europe, U.S. military leaders prepared for the looming threats of war with Nazi Germany while bracing for a potential Pacific conflict with Japan. These efforts set the stage for one of the most pivotal moments in global history. Join us for a discussion about the the United States’ urgent military preparations and the critical events of 1940 and 1941 that reshaped the world. This insightful webinar features our Museum’s Lead Docent Alex Schellenberg and moderator Lt. Col. William “Spin” Spincola, USAF (Ret.), the Museum’s Senior Manager of Education.
Due to time constraints, some questions went unanswered in the webinar.
The following inquiries were submitted during our program. Some questions are answered by either Alex or William, or both.
What was the improvement of naval and air infrastructure on Oʻahu during 1941?
ALEX:
- For the Navy, it was mainly expanding the drydock facilities to host up to at least three drydocks (only drydock one was fully complete during December 7th). For the Army it was the installment of at least five radar stations and the expansion of anti-aircraft emplacements around key locations along with the construction of new aircraft hangars. The Ford Island Air Traffic Control Tower, which is now open to the public for tours at the aviation museum, was also under construction during 1941 as part of the effort to improve air infrastructure on the island.
WILLIAM:
- The primary military aviation infrastructure improvement on Oahu in 1941 involved building and improving auxiliary airfields and improving and building up existing base facilities. USMC Air Station Ewa Beach is an example of new operational base still under development at the time of the attack.
Were war games being played by our military for different scenarios to try to anticipate adversarial actions?
ALEX:
- Yes! The US had a number of war games with some of the biggest being known as Fleet Problems. There is a webinar on our YouTube page about Fleet Problem 13 which looked into the potential for an attack against Pearl Harbor by a “hostile asian island nation” which was the Navy’s not-so-subtle way of saying Japan.
WILLIAM:
- The last Fleet Problem was in the summer of 1940 when FDR ordered to US Fleet to remain in Pearl Harbor as a deterrent to Japan. From this time on, all army and navy the training in Hawaii was conducted to maintain combat readiness at tactical level. Recall, the anticipated Japanese adversarial action was a nivation of the Philippines and South East Asia.
Did the politics of the day restrict the ability to fly patrols?
ALEX:
- Yes! During 1941, the US was trying to build up in preparation for war, but this was hampered by popular figures and government officials who felt the buildup would be seen as too aggressive and would drag the US into an unnecessary war they could not win. One of the most famous detractors was Charles Lindbergh, who repeatedly called President Roosevelt a tyrant hell bent on war. On a more local scale, General Walter Short and General Fredrick Martin were constantly at odds on how the aviators should be preparing for war. Short wanted the pilots to be trained with a focus on infantry tactics, which would take away from flight training and limit the pilots available for patrol missions, while Martin wanted his pilots to focus on flight training because most of them had still not passed through all of their proper qualification courses.
WILLIAM:
- No, they did not. In fact, the two sets of ”War Waring” implied Hawaii military and naval forces should have been on the highest possible level of defensive readiness.
Were there radar stations established in the Philippines?
WILLIAM:
- Yes, there was one fully operational radar sets operational at Clark Field. It was destroyed in the first Japanese bombing of the base.
When were the B-18s phased out?
ALEX:
- By early 1942, the production of the B-18 had almost ceased entirely in favor of the far more capable B-17. However, B-18s were still used throughout the war as backline aircraft at minor bases like Alaska.
What is the Hawaiʻi Department? Why was it created?
ALEX:
- The Hawai’i Department was created in 1908 as a relatively independent sub-branch of the war department (now known as the department of defense). The Hawai’i department managed all the military defenses of the Hawai’ian island, including the Army Air Forces, standard military divisions, and the territorial guard.
When were the Essex class carriers, F6 fighters, etc., planned and developed?
WILLIAM:
- The Essex class carriers were designed in 1938-39 and construction began on the first three carriers of this new class in July 1940. Ships of this class reached the fleet in 1943. 24 aircraft carriers of the Essex class were competed by 1946. The Grumman F6F Hellcat was a wartime development and improvement of the F4F Wildcat. The F6F had its USN combat debut in September 1943.
Is there a map of the locations of any Japanese planes that went down in the harbor?
ALEX:
- Sadly, there is no comprehensive map in any known archives.
PanAm pilots saw all of the aircraft lined up on the airfields in formations, easy to attack, and warned authorities. Why were their warnings ignored?
ALEX:
- That was mostly due to General Short’s paranoia regarding the 100,000 Japanese Americans living in Hawai’i at the time. He was convinced that a decent number of them were still loyal to the empire and would try to sabotage the aircraft when war broke out. Thus, having all the aircraft parked wingtip to wingtip kept them safe from any saboteurs as it would be hard to tamper with them while they were close together and out in the open.
Did the Japanese know about the Red Hill fuel storage before the attack?
ALEX:
- The Japanese knew about the construction going on in Red Hill, but there are no documents that have survived today that showed The Japanese knew what exactly what the US was building there.
What can you tell us about the state of radar in the US and in Hawaiʻi during the 1941 attack?
ALEX:
- The Radar on the island was the SCR 270B. There were 5 radar sites active in the early morning of December 7th, but all except the Opana radar station had been shut down before 7 AM due to the stand down order by General Short the night before. The only reason Opana was still operating when the first wave arrived was because the truck that was supposed to pick up the crew was running late.
WILLIAM:
- Five mobile air defense raider sites were under construction and undergoing operational testing in December 1941. A modern air defense command and control center was planned but not yet under construction.
Were there PBY Catalinas in the Philippines?
ALEX:
- Yes, there was at least one unit of PBY Catalinas active in the Philippines. That unit was Patrol Wing 10 which had around 20 PBYs.
Why were the Philippines so ill prepared? Or apparently so?
ALEX:
- The reason is because the US in general was ill-prepared to go to war at that point. The great depression was still being felt all throughout the US, which meant that the capacity to produce the needed equipment was still woefully subpar. On top of a sluggish industry, the Philippines is also just under 8,000 miles away, meaning that any major shipments of equipment would take weeks, sometimes even months, by ship to get to its destination and be properly distributed to the troops there.
