Days of Infamy (23 page)

“But at this moment, now, what is happening to our Navy?” he asked.

“These are the latest reports monitored in San Francisco,” Stark said, holding up the flimsy sheets of paper, and he scanned through them.

“Kaneohe, Bellows, Pearl, and Hickam were bombarded for several hours by at least two Japanese battleships. The bombardment has exacerbated the damage already inflicted by the air strikes of yesterday.

“A battle was fought off the coast by the cruiser
Minneapolis
and a
small flotilla of destroyers led by Admiral Draemel. It appears as if our losses were severe.
Minneapolis
is definitely gone, nearly all the destroyers as well, but we did cripple one Japanese battleship, either
Hiei
or
Kirishima.

“An air strike, launched by Admiral Halsey at dawn, reinforced by several B-17s from the island that survived the attacks of yesterday, did further damage. The report, picked up from a ham radio operator claiming he was broadcasting reports handed to him by naval personnel, states that the Jap battleship is foundering thirty miles southwest of Oahu.”

“Excellent,” FDR muttered, but my God, the price in return. A flotilla of destroyers and another cruiser lost? And yet, taking out a Japanese battleship would be greeted as something of a victory.

“Our carriers?” he asked.

Stark hesitated.

“No word at all from the
Lexington.
It is still operational somewhere between Midway and Hawaii. There was the intention for it to move to the southeast and
Enterprise
under Halsey to the northwest for a link-up. But both ships are now maintaining nearly complete radio silence, so there is no information there.

“
Enterprise
has only broken radio silence once today, for what we think is a rendezvous signal to a small group made up of the cruiser
Indianapolis
and its escorting destroyers. We’ve also monitored several Japanese reports, transmitted in the clear. They are claiming to have sunk
Enterprise
along with a second carrier in the same action, and our queries broadcast out of San Francisco have not been yet been answered.”

“Merciful God,” the President whispered. He lowered his head for a moment, then looked back up at Stark. “Do you think it’s true?”

“Sir, regarding the
Enterprise
and its group under the command of Admiral Halsey: They only had sixty planes on board when this started. They definitely did strike at the battleship. And we monitored plane-to-plane communications that a Japanese carrier was damaged, perhaps destroyed in a second strike, though our losses were severe. Few if any of our aircraft survived, and they are coming
into Oahu, not back to their ship, which would indicate the loss of
Enterprise.
As to their claims of a second carrier being sunk, I think it doubtful. There was not enough time for
Enterprise
and
Lexington
to effect a rendezvous.”

“Why go after a battleship if it was already damaged?” Secretary of War Stimson asked. “Couldn’t your surface ships have finished it off?”

Roosevelt turned to face him. Interestingly, he was, like Knox, a Republican as well as a friend of his cousin Teddy, having served in his administration and been Secretary of War once before, under Taft. A bit ironic, Roosevelt thought yet again, that both of the top civilian military leaders were Republicans, the party that had leaned most toward isolationism.

But this evening, Republican or Democrat didn’t matter. Their mission was to build an American front, regardless of parties. The old ideal that politics stopped at the border in times of crisis had to hold true, otherwise they would not win. Marshall had already voiced a fear of that to him, in the months before their entry into this conflict, the adage that “no Democracy can withstand a seven years’ war.” Politics as usual would finally take hold, sapping public support. It was a sobering concept, given that some analysis, what with the Nazi triumphs of this year, and the stunning onslaught of the Japanese, indicated it might take until 1950 to finally bring the Axis powers to their knees.

“I can’t speak for Admiral Halsey,” Stark replied, interrupting the President’s thoughts, “but I suspect he launched toward their battleship in the hope of finding their carriers nearby, got pulled into a fight, and his pilots had to drop their ordnance on the closest available target.

“We do know for certain, from a broadcast picked up from an Army B-17 that had been shadowing the Japanese fleet, that a second strike, launched by Halsey, hit and perhaps sank a Japanese carrier, but only a handful of our planes survived and apparently have returned to Pearl Harbor rather than to the
Enterprise.”

FDR nodded and said, “Shrewd move. Their scout planes could not follow our strike wave back.”

“But the question still is out there. Is
Enterprise
gone? Returning to Pearl Harbor rather than their ship is an indicator of that reality,” Stimson said.

“Or a shrewd move by Halsey to throw the Japanese off,” Stark retorted, “and make them think the carrier has indeed been sunk when in reality it is merely damaged, perhaps unable to recover aircraft but still out there.”

“Don’t you think it is reckless that Admiral Halsey ventured one half-armed carrier against at least four or more of theirs?”

“To go in harm’s way,” FDR said softly with a smile, stepping figuratively between the two. “Remember I’m a former Navy man myself. That has always been the doctrine. From what I know of Halsey’s reputation, he could not do otherwise and let them slip away unharmed.”

Stark did not reply, and Roosevelt wondered if there was some subtext between Stark and Halsey.

“I think we have to assume
Enterprise
is out of the fight. Either crippled or sunk. If it is still afloat and seriously damaged, and now without planes, Halsey will not resume radio contact until he is certain he is well clear of their carriers.”

“So that means only one other carrier left to face three, maybe four or even more of theirs,” Stimson replied. “And then suppose this is the forerunner of an invasion of Oahu? It means the Navy cannot provide any air support.”

The President extended a hand in a calming gesture.

“Admiral Halsey had to strike when he could, with what he had. I will not fault him for that. In this situation I want our commanders to be taking risks. And besides, Henry, look at the map. If the report on the Japanese fleet location is accurate, they are smack between Task Forces Eight and Twelve. The chances of effecting a rendezvous are slim.”

“Nevertheless, he initiated an attack with a weakened and divided force.”

No one spoke for a moment as the President snuffed out a cigarette and then lit another one.

“Gentlemen, I think it appropriate to set a precedent here at the start. I will never, repeat never, fault a commander for being aggressive. Timidity, especially at this moment in our nation’s history, will indeed be the path to certain destruction. Do we understand each other?”

No one replied; there was simply a nodding of heads, and he could see the visible relief on Knox’s face. He had suspected that Stimson was going to try and deflect some blame for the debacle of December 7 onto the Navy, by castigating Halsey’s daring counter-strikes of this morning.

“The tradition of our Navy, in perhaps its finest hour, was during the War of 1812, when but a few frigates raised absolute Cain with the British Navy, much to their chagrin. The odds did not matter. That tradition must stand, and I expect to hear, as soon as possible, a clear report of the gallant action of Admiral Draemel and his men. The entire nation must hear of it and every sailor in uniform look to it as an example of the audacity that will eventually win this war for us.”

He turned on his best charming smile, and the others nodded in agreement.

“Now, let us return to the current situation, gentlemen.”

Admiral Stark nodded and returned to the map on the wall.

“We must function under the assumption that Admiral Halsey and his
Enterprise
task force are now out of the fight, as is the group accompanying
Minneapolis. Indianapolis
is far out of range, and I should add, the accounting of fuel resources that we had on December sixth”—he paused to look down at a note pad on the table—“prevents her from any rapid pursuit.”

“What is the fuel situation at Pearl?” Stimson asked.

Stark shook his head. “The only reports we have so far, again via the civilian radio contacts, are that much, perhaps most of the entire oil reserve, four million barrels, is at this moment burning, either as a result of the third air strike or the nighttime bombardment.
Indianapolis
and its escorts cannot sustain a high-speed pursuit of more than twenty-four hours without running dry.”

Again, no one spoke. For a nation that was used to swimming
in oil, with vast reserves stockpiled where needed, the news was shocking.

“Then I think, gentlemen, to maximize this time together we should address four issues,” the President interjected. “Let me cover the first two of them.

“First, should orders be sent now to
Lexington
to avoid all contact? And second, are the islands of the Hawaiian chain subject to further attack and perhaps occupation? If they are indeed to be attacked or invaded, we must address that now.”

Stark cleared his throat again as all eyes turned to him.

“Sir, our radio communications are spotty at best. As I have already informed you, our only reliable source, until cable is reconnected to Hawaii, is via our monitoring out of San Francisco. We are not even sure if we can raise
Lexington
, and so far Admiral Newton has, except for a few very brief attempts via scout planes far removed from the location of their ship, maintained strict radio silence, as is proper.”

“Do you think the Japanese have a fix on him?”

“I doubt it, sir. They did linger near Oahu this morning, perhaps in part to cover their damaged battleship. We know that two of their carriers were not west of Oahu, but actually to the southwest, those being the carriers that Halsey struck later in the morning. There are undoubtedly several more of their carriers somewhere out there as well, to either west or northwest. I doubt they would split their fleet out of mutual support range. Therefore, I think they will attempt to link their carriers back together and steam westward.”

“Why not resume the attack on Oahu?” the President asked. “From the sounds of it, our defenses there are now on the ropes.”

“Oil is for them just as deep a concern as it is now for us. We must assume they have reserve tankers awaiting them in the Marshalls for refueling. They most likely believe they have finished off our carriers to the south. If I were their commander, I would spread my carriers wide but still close enough to be within mutual support range, and do a western sweep, hoping to pick up whatever is left. They must assume we have three, perhaps even four carriers in the Pacific,
when in reality we have only two, as
Saratoga
is still on the West Coast for refit.”

“When will the Japanese break silence?” Marshall asked, in his first comment of the meeting. “And I must assume by what you are saying that this task force’s mission was to attack, destroy our battleships and carriers, pull out, and not support a general invasion.”

Stark nodded toward him as if thanking the head of the Army for his question.

“I will stake my reputation on the fact that this is not the preliminary for an invasion. The reports the British have so far indicate that a full-scale movement is developing against Singapore. The Japanese are occupying Guam. They are bombing General MacArthur in the Philippines. Their overall strategic goal will not be Hawaii but instead southward into the Dutch East Indies to get the oil they need so desperately from the fields in the Indies. After that they may switch their target to Hawaii or India or perhaps even Australia. First, they simply must get to the oil supplies before they run out of oil in Japan itself. Their stockpiles are very limited and will not sustain a long war. They must have oil. No, sir, I think Pearl Harbor was a spoiling raid. They are not fools. If they have war-gamed this out at all, they would know that to even have a remote hope of occupying Oahu they would have to commit three or more divisions of troops to counterbalance our infantry there, and the tens of thousands of naval and marine personnel that would resist along with thousands of reservists and even civilians. No, they can not take that island now.

“Even to grab one of the secondary islands, Molokai, for example, and try to develop a landing field there would require tremendous logistical support as a follow-up. I think you would concur that creating a usable airfield and then supporting it is a tremendous undertaking. Sir, I recall some reports, studies of what could be called the philosophy of their naval forces. It is all about rapid offensive strike, what won their war against Russia thirty-five years ago. They lack, however, depth, the nuts-and-bolts things like logistical support, extra tankers, specially trained units for building bases and airfields, the
stuff of a long-term war. They have built a superb navy, but it is a navy designed for a sharp, decisive strike for a short, decisive war. I, therefore, would be surprised if the Japanese would make such an attempt in their opening move against Hawaii, while at the same time committing to so many other fronts.

“Unless we are sadly mistaken in our analysis,” Stark continued, “I would venture that their next step, after this spoiling raid to sink our battleships and carriers, would be Wake and Midway. They could use those islands as their logistical base, since both are within support distance from the Marshall Islands, and then challenge us for possession of the Hawaiian chain later. Also, by seizing those two islands, they snatch from us bases and airfields that have already been built and put them back into operation within a matter of days, rather than having to build new ones from scratch, which for them could take months.”

Marshall nodded, and the President could sense his agreement with this well-thought-out review.