WHY WAS PEARL HARBOR SO VULNERABLE?
December 7, 1941, is a date that will live in infamy for conspiracy theorists, mostly for the many questionable decisions made by military leaders that day. For example:
✦ The aircraft in Hawaii were gathered in groups and out in the open, where they were most vulnerable to attacking planes. Ships in the harbor were similarly gathered, making them easy targets for torpedoes.
✦ Americans had broken a Japanese code called Purple and should have known about any planned attacks. ✦ A radar station at Opana Point detected the incoming strike force, but instead of raising the alarm, Lt. Kermit Tyler, the officer on duty, let everyone go to breakfast. ✦ And the big one: One of three aircraft carriers was supposed to be guarding Pearl Harbor at all times, yet none was present at the time of the attack. All this has led some to conclude that the military knew of the impending invasion but allowed it to happen in order to go to war with Japan. THE FACTS: The military never considered an air strike likely. According to a 1944 judge advocate’s report that investigated the debacle, military leaders were more concerned about sabotage, and the best defense against sabotage was to group all the planes together
out in the open, making them easier to guard. The same with the battleships— it’s easier to guard one cluster of ships than ships scattered around the harbor. But while grouping the ships may have deterred saboteurs, it made them sitting ducks for the bombers.
Conspiracists are correct about the code Purple—it had been broken. But it was a diplomatic code, not military. Intelligence gained from it provided no warning of the Pearl Harbor attack.
As for Lt. Tyler, he did see the planes heading for Pearl Harbor on radar reports. But he mistook them for a flight of American B-17 bombers scheduled to arrive that morning. A 1942 court of inquiry cleared him of any wrongdoing.
This leaves the “intentionally” absent aircraft carriers. The carrier USS Saratoga was coming out of overhaul in Seattle, leaving only the USS Lexington and the USS Enterprise on duty. With the threat of war looming, both carriers were tasked with ferrying aircraft to the strategic islands of Midway and Wake on staggered schedules so that one was always defending Pearl Harbor. But just as the Lexington left and the Enterprise was supposed to get back, the Enterprise struck bad weather and was kept at sea two days longer than planned. That second day was December 7.