Pearl Harbor

[randolph]

Originally Posted by tslust

Naval Intellegence knew that the Japanese carriers were on the move, but they thought they were headed for the South Pacific. They dismissed any possible attack on Pearl Harbor, becases at the time it was beleaved that it was unassailable (especially from an air attack).

BTW they broke the Japanese diplomatic code, not their naval codes.

On page 76 of the book I am reading, Maj. Gen. E. T. Conley adjutant general of the Army estimated carriers could launch their planes from about 300 miles out and attack Pearl Harbor. This study was done in 1936. The Japanese attack followed this scenario almost exactly. Again in1941 "it appears that the most likely and dangerous attack on Oahu might be an air attack".