For Keith Willshaw...

In article ,
on 20 Jun 2004 05:19:53 GMT,
Denyav attempted to say .....

And the fact that Adm Halsey, with all the same information that Adm Kimmel
had stated he intended to shoot down any Japanese aircraft he encountered
and sink any IJN ships that he might find.

Actually Kimmel acted before Halsey and sent 46 ships to open sea without
notifying WAshington in late Nov.

Who countermanded Kimmel's orders and ordered Fleet to return to the base?
Washington (Stark)

Did he ?
Document it please.



Halsey issued his plans AFTER Washington ordered the Fleet back to Pearl Harbor
(His Carriers were part of 46 ship Grand Exercise) as a 25-ship scaled down
version of Kimmels original plan.

But even Halseys scaled down exercise plan was too much for the
Washington,They ordered Halsey to use his carriers to transport planes to Wake
and Midway.

And Adm Halsey stated his intentions, based on the same intel his boss had.
And his boss had no objection.


Order came again from Stark.

Why Washington countermanded Kimmels orders and ordered 46-ship fleet to return
to Pearl Harbor as Japanase Task was steaming towards Hawaii?

When did this "fleet" sail ? And to where was this fleet headed ?


1)Japanase might abort their mission if they knew US was prepared and waiting
for them.
(That would mean a total failure of McCollum plan)

How would the IJN find out ?


2)Even if they'd not aborted the mission,PSYOP value of a naval engagement at
open sea would be much less than Pearl Harbor.
Washington knew that if two fleets met at sea and engaged each other there
always might be questions about who attacked first.
(Limited success for McCollum plan,US probably would enter WWII but probably
not so united without shock and awe effect of Pearl Harbor)

You do know that USN ships had already been attacked at open sea ?



Washington had no interest in deterring Japanase or stopping them before they
dropped bombs over HAwaii.

Your opinon.


On contrary,Washington wanted to make Task Forces journey between Nov,26 and
Dec,7 as comfortable and easy as possible.
To make it happen they even tried to create a shipping-free zone,so that the
Task force could steam toward Hawaii without worrying about sightings.

How did they create this shipping free zone ?


--
When dealing with propaganda terminology one sometimes always speaks in
variable absolutes. This is not to be mistaken for an unbiased slant.