The Man Who Could Have Stopped The Attack On Pearl Harbor, And So Nearly Did!

Lt. Kermit Tyler will forever go down in history as the man that could have warned the fleet about the imminent attack on Pearl Harbor.
Through a series of blunders and misunderstandings, the most symbolic American defeat went ahead. But, how prepared was the USA for war and could they have defended against an attack on Pearl Harbor with just a few minutes warning?
This is the subject of the video today.
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Welcome to my channel where I share my love of history and aviation. I first fell in love with military aviation when reading Biggles books as a boy, then I studied history at university. I like finding interesting stories and sharing them with others.
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⏱️ Timestamp:
0:00 intro
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#aviationhistory#history

[@CalibanRising]

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[@philvanderlaan5942]

It wasn’t just Kermit Tyler, there was an ignored report of a submarine sinking by uss ward , the battleships were all opened up for a scheduled inspection on Monday. It’s a chain of mistakes.

[@Deevo037]

Have a look at the 1970 film Tora Tora Tora, it might be dated as far as effects go but the history behind the attack and the events leading up to it are well documented and portrayed. Definitely worth a watch.

[@CalibanRising]

I'm a big fan of that film, saw it a lot growing up.

[@dukecraig2402]

Yea but the idea that if they'd have reported that a large formation of Japanese aircraft were inbound instead of them being mistaken for the B17's coming in from the states would have changed anything is a myth. In order for it to have worked a communication system between the radar station all the way to the commander's of the individual ships moored at Pearl Harbor would have had to existed and it simply didn't, even if he hadn't said "It's probably just that flight of B17's coming in from the states" and instead rang the alarm word still wouldn't have gotten to the ships to where they'd have been at battle stations before the first planes struck. Anyone who thinks it would have simply doesn't understand how the military works, without a system in place to do something like that everyone along the way is going to need confirmation and orders from their superior officer, it still would have taken so long for everyone to eventually be at battle stations it wouldn't have changed a thing, the Japanese planes still would have struck before that happened. The premise of this video is false, nothing would have changed, their was already all sorts of warnings to be on heightened alert in the pipeline that hadn't moved downstream as proof of that. The failure can't be placed on a single person or their actions, the failure existed because of the lack of a system to alert everyone in a speedy manner.

[@ferallion3546]

Great film. Best depiction of the strike operation.

[@alvermeil5884]

Unfortunately there has been other examples of our military being slow to adapt to technology. An example of this, is during the Civil War we could’ve the lever action henry rifle by 1863. But the war department this fast firing rifle the soldiers would waste ammunition. We could also have the Gatling gun. It was used by some generals who actually bought there own Gatling guns. For not alerting the officers all ranks of a possible attack, is just a sign of poor leader ship at the highest levels.

[@robertsansone1680]

If I remember correctly, there were exactly 12 Gatling guns used during the Civil War & all used in the East. (despite what you see in the Clint Eastwood movie & other works of fiction) All twelve Gatlings were privately purchased by General Benjamin Butler who was a wealthy man.

[@dukecraig2402]

The decision about not buying Henry rifles wasn't about "wasting ammo", that's a myth that's grown legs over the years and has built up a lot of speed because people find the logic so perplexing. The truth behind it and who had the final say was the General in charge of ordinance and supply and the logistics of it, he already had a mind numbing amount of cartridges, bullets, molds and powders to keep track of and make sure they all found their way to the correct units that needed each specific caliber, powder etc etc, the last thing he wanted or needed was yet another type of ammo to keep track of and make sure it found it's way to the correct destination, this was all done in an age before even mechanical computers or counting devices, the logistics of keeping track of everything and routing them to the proper units was daunting to say the least and required rooms full of people doing the paperwork, one mistake and in the heat of battle a unit could open up ammo crates to find ammo worthless for their arms. While yes there were Generals who grumbled about something like the Henry being bullet wasters it wasn't their decision, it was the man in charge of supply ultimately that nixed it, and looking at the context of everything he probably made the right decision, Henry's and their new and specialized ammo could never have been produced in the number's required to outfit the Federal troops anyways, instead he chose to support the arms they already had in large numbers and had ammo stockpiled for. Logistics win wars, not bullets.

[@spudskie3907]

Even if he warned higher command an attack was on its way, it would not have stopped it. All it would have done was to get a few fighters into the air (doubt it could get every fighter in time) and alert the ship’s crews to battle stations where every gun is manned and all watertight doors closed. The attack would proceed but the damage and casualties would be reduced.

[@jamessimms415]

As bad as it was, it was fortunate the Battleships were caught in harbor where they were ‘relatively easy’ to salvage & crews able to be saved. Out @ sea, the ships & crews would have been irrecoverably lost. By being saved, they played a vital role in shore bombardment across the Pacific & Europe, for which they were well suited. By being slow & fuel hogs, they were unsuited for carrier task forces, the newer, more modern Battleships were able to keep up w/the carrier task forces. The Pearl Harbor survivors got a measure of revenge @ the Battle of Surigao Strait in October 1944.

[@kimmer6]

9:24 The B-17 shown is Nine-O-Nine which crashed and was destroyed by fire in Connecticut on October 2, 2019. My friends and I have been all over the inside of it and went for rides in it over the years. It brings up sad memories.

[@CalibanRising]

Terrible to see these old warbirds go down.

[@hawnyfox3411]

@@CalibanRising & @kimmer = You're VERY lucky to've been inside the Collings Foundation bird, a sad loss. I was stunned by the loss of THREE airworthy Boeing B.17's last few years... BTW : Just wanted to point out that 'your' local B.17 nicknamed '9-0-9' is NOT & was NOT the real life original bird used in 1944-1945 based at Bassingbourn The Collings Foundation a/c that crashed (the one you mentioned going on board AND also shown @ 09:24), is NOT the original "true" 9-0-9 , but was another B.17-G that was "painted up" to represent the true original 9-0-9 which flew over 120+ missions & was (like so many others), regrettably scrapped @ Kingman, Arizona Same also goes for the B.24 that was & is painted-up to LOOK like "Witchcraft" (but in actuality, ISN'T) - The real life genuine original Rackheath based "Witchcraft" was chosen "in paintwork replicant" by Collings Foundation, managed to survive 130 missions, making HER the top-scoring B.24 of both the 2nd Air-Div' & highest scoring B.24 in the whole 8th Air Force Again, she survived the war, but was regrettably scrapped - Hence as to "why" the C.F chose to replicate both her & 9-0-9 in paintwork format, using otherwise annonymous postwar active a/c

[@Stay_at_home_Astronaut81]

I went aboard her in the 90's. Such a shame.

[@petestorz172]

I do not think 35-45 minutes' warning would have sufficed to significantly blunt the first wave. Pilots were dispersed about their part of the island, and few planes were gassed and armed. On the IJN side, they were doing something no other navy had conceived of doing, combining their entire carrier fleet into a combined force capable of overwhelming even a major base such as PH. Both of the two waves that struck PH had twice as many planes as the USAAC and USN combined fighter force. In sheer numbers, each wave would have overwhelmed the small number of fighters that could have gotten airborne with 35-45 minutes' warning, and neither the USN nor USAAC had the radar and fighter direction capability to direct fighters to where they needed to be. IOW, significant time would have been consumed just looking for IJN formations. The USN was still trying to work out the combination of technology and communications necessary for fighter direction nearly a year later at Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz. The best that 35-45 minutes' warning might have done was to have ships' AA manned and ready. As the detection, sinking, and reporting of the miniature subs demonstrated, USN communications bureaucracy might have let the early warning go unheeded. The USA and USN really did not think the IJN capable of a six carrier combined force attack.

[@66oggy]

All wars, and life in general, are a constant series of " What if's " and " If Only's ".

[@TheMagusOfTheMagnaCarta]

"We're going back to Tokyo... in full array... and with mighty allies" James Doolittle

[@julianmhall]

The main flaws in the initial RDF 'Chain Home' system is it was directional, and relied on the ground being flat, so a) once raiders were past the towers they couldn't be seen, and b) It couldn't cope with terrain so was only any good when the ground level was flat. Also as the Chain Home Low and High names suggest the original 'High' system couldn't detect low aircraft so both were required for full coverage.

[@auerstadt06]

There was no "hot line" or emergency button for anyone to press at that time. Tyler couldn't have done much to stop what was coming.

[@chuckw1113]

Sadly, most US fighter aircraft would have taken hours to prepare for battle. Many had had their guns removed for cleaning after the week long alert and exercise. This is mentioned in a number of histories of Pearl Harbor. The quality of the First and Second Carrier Divisions of the Kido Butai (with Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu) were quite good, and contained most of the best pilots. They had trained and fought together for a year or more, and contained many veterans of China. The Fifth Carrier Division (Shokaku and Zuikaku) on the other hand, were made up of younger, less experienced photos, and had only had a month or so of training together. This is why they were assigned to airfield suppression instead of ship bombing or torpedo attack units. By contrast, some of the best trained pilots in the USAAF were assigned to the fighter squadrons in Hawaii. In the book Attack on Pearl Harbor by Alan Zimm, there s an excellent discussion on air crews of the respective organizations. The book is well worth a read as it addresses a number or myths and misconceptions about the battle!

[@razorback20]

Two of the first memes ever recorded in history: 'Forget it' - Lt. Kermit Tyler, Oahu, dec. 7th 1941 'Send us more japs' - Maj. James Devereux, Wake Island, 4 days later. 😅

[@jthomas4361]

Hi man, I’d just like to say this is an amazing production and information and so happy I found it. It is definitely the level or higher of top YT channels of similar. Keep it up 👍🏽

[@Gungho1a]

The Dowding System was a natural evolution of the British WW1 detection system developed to give early warning of Zeppelin raids. The Dowding System was an integrated early warning, detection, tracking, engagement and management system. The various technologies simply slotted into it.

[@notwocdivad]

A little known fact is that the British enlisted HAM radio operators to listen in on certain frequencies at different times of the day and night, If anything was heard they would note down the time, frequency and message (in code) and send it off to an address they were given! This gave the British a lot more "ears" listening out for axis radio traffic. If one of them detected a sudden increase on a channel the Codebreakers would take over listening in on that frequency.

[@johnhudghton2287]

@@notwocdivad I'm 66, served in the RAF, taken a keen interest in WW2 aviation history, particularly The BoB and NEVER knew that before. Thank you for that fascinating aspect of the struggle. Of the technique, I have to say "how typically British".

[@stephenrodenbough2186]

When they saw that radar contact on December 7th, they should have scrambled a couple of fighters to look into it and perhaps, even if they thought those were the American bombers coming to Hawaii to escort the b-17s to their destination. And if they had seen a large formation of Japanese aircraft they would have radioed in and gotten the hell out of the situation as quickly as possible.

[@wbertie2604]

Did people sufficiently trust the technology at the time? Even in the 1980s there were potential international incidents triggered by flocks of birds or just moisture in the equipment.

[@brandonbaker536]

@@wbertie2604 Not to mention the almost all out nuclear war because someone forgot to change the tapes from the Wargame they did. Humanity at its... almost finest.

[@williamrobinson827]

Nothing like hindsight. It's easy to say "should have" after the fact. Even if our planes were still on the ground, hindsight tells us that they should have been spread out more. They were bunched close together to better protect against sabotage.

[@richinalee]

Tyler was the scapegoat. There was a Congressional hearing where he was cleared of any wrongdoing. It was actually General Short and the Commander, Hubbard who were found to be at fault for not relaying Marshals War warning to anyone. Tyler was actually told if there was Hawaiian music playing on a certain radio station that it meant American planes would be flying in. The Tor Tor Tora film portrayed Tyler as a drunk clown and that was horribly inaccurate.

[@robertsnary472]

The Americans also had warning that an attack on Pearl Harbour was feasible as the Royal Navy attacked the Italian Fleet in Taranto Harbour November 1940 and Admiral Yamamoto used the knowledge learned from post attack analysis to plan the attack on Pearl

[@avenaoat]

One carrier with biplane swordfishes destoroyed the Italian fleet! The American fleet should have studied Taranto!

[@josephpadula2283]

A Japanese sub was depth charged outside the Harbor even earlier around 0345 by USSWard. It was also fired on by the deck gun. The Captain of the Ward sank the Ward 3 years later as Co of another ship!

[@samiam619]

I believe it took 50 years to find the mini-sub the Ward fired on.

[@williamrobinson827]

A shot from the deck gun hit the conning tower, causing its demise. Either wonderful marksmanship or really lucky.

[@krismurphy7711]

The Fact that the Fleet in Pearl Harbor was not in an active Alert situation was criminal. There should have been a picket line of subs and destroyers and air search to the NW and SW of the Islands. If anything, it would have been good practice...AND THERE HAD BEEN A WAR WARNING. (I remember my Dad telling me that he had been issued a .45 a month or two before the attack. He was a Navy Dentist stationed onshore in the Philippines. He was later on a ship that was bombed on the 10th.USS Otus.)

[@CalibanRising]

📢 If you've enjoyed this video, Why not watch another one. Or even better, support this channel through Patreon, giving a virtual tip or making a usual purchase through one of my affiliate links (at no extra cost to you). 👍Find more details here: calibanrising.com/support/ I appreciate your help and together we can make this channel even better!

[@johnhudghton2287]

Hi Caliban, did you name youself after the Shakespearian character and why did you choose this name?

[@LeopardIL2]

Well done content. I also use Scott Buckley s tracks 😉

[@strikerorwell9232]

The Serbian spy Popov, (The Role model for Ian Flemings James Bond) came to the US with details about an attack against Pearl Harbor. The US intelligences refused to listen to Popov, and Popov became to upset that he was on his way to fly to Hawaii and talk to the men in charged for the defence of the Islands. Popov didn't make it to the islands and was stopped by the US Military!

[@davesy6969]

The Japanese learnt a lot from the extremely successful attack of the British fleet using aircraft at Taranto a year earlier mauling the Italian navy in it's home port.

[@0ld.Richard]

Fuchida had an alternate attack plan in case surprise was lost, which he would have broadcast to the strike force. Hinder the attack, yes. Stop the attack cold? No.

[@usedcarsokinawa]

Also, the President needed a strong reason to go to war that every American could agree with. That’s why the carriers were all out to sea with no escorts and why Hawaii didn’t have a decoder for Japanese codes (the code was already known). The military didn’t think they were susceptible, much to their surprise, to torpedo attacks as the bay was too shallow.

[@TheRaptorXX]

Nice video, I see you used my Bellows Field P-40 skin? Looks good, VERY weathered by my own fair hand!! The plane was one of the many that was destroyed while still on the ground, by the way... Raptorattacker X 👍

[@CalibanRising]

You made it? Thanks! Yeah, I thought it looked the part.

[@jamessimms415]

Not his fault. Tyler wasn’t properly trained, there wasn’t a proper fighter direction center set up, no proper communication systems set up, radar operators weren’t properly trained or instructed as to what to do. It was hard enough just calling into Wheeler/Pearl as it was.

[@AlanRoehrich9651]

No, he didn't fail to stop it, by that time, it was far too late. The failures were above him. And multitude.

[@R2Rocketeer]

It seems funny that the kill ratio for the P-36 in US service for the entire part it played in the war was a 5 to 1 superiority over Japan. So yay for the P-36!

[@johnhudghton2287]

So well researched and presented, thank you 👍

[@CalibanRising]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@krismurphy7711]

The Blame was put where it was deserved...senior Navy and Army commanders. THEY KNEW that a war warning had been issued and the week before they were warned about a potential attack. SHOULD have alerted lower commanders to BE ON ALERT for anything resembling an attack. Lt. Tyler should have been told to alert his superior if he was alerted to ANYTHING...but the B17 flight timing was absolutely bad timing.

[@douglaslindsaygray2494]

What about Mitchell the army air force guy that warned his country in the 1920s about a possibility of this attack

[@orcstr8d]

And Mitchell had passed away several years before PH, but some members of the military seemed to be doubling down on the usefulness of the battleships over carriers and air power. “It is significant that despite claims of air enthusiasts, no battleship has yet been sunk by bombs.” Caption to photo of USS Arizona in program for Army-Navy football game, November 29, 1941. (Eight days later, the Arizona went to the bottom at Pearl Harbor after taking a direct bomb hit.)

[@williamrobinson827]

@@orcstr8d Thanks for sharing that. I'd never heard it - really ironic.

[@orcstr8d]

@@williamrobinson827 you’re welcome! Yes, very ironic. I mentioned that USS Arizona picture in the football game program to a friend more knowledgeable than I about that era and he said that even after Dec 7th there were still skeptics because “they got hit while moored, not at sea and on watch, etc.” And than 4 or so days later the HMS Repulse and Prince of Wales got sunk while at sea.

[@Alex_Guy1011]

Question. Where did you get that IL-2 Pearl Harbor mission from in your footage?

[@posmoo9790]

FDR could have not imposed a worldwide embargo on japan for making the French Colony of Indochina Japanese. But that would require accepting that there were limits to liberalism.

[@josephpadula2283]

RDF means something else in aviation” radio directional finding” Using a radio on your plane to get bearing only to a station. It could be a normal radio Am station or an aviation beacon . To get a fix you need two stations and plot it on a chart. It is passive from the planes point of view. Radar is active …

[@CalibanRising]

Thanks for the feedback.

[@benpurcell4935]

In modern terms yes that is what it means but the British system was actually called RDF it was short for range and direction finding.

[@wbertie2604]

​@@benpurcell4935 yes, radar was an American term later adopted which helped distinguish radar from things like Gee.

[@benpurcell4935]

@@wbertie2604 I know radar is an American term.

[@wbertie2604]

@@benpurcell4935 yes, but not everyone does.

[@josephmartin334]

Excellent video. Thank you for posting it. I did find the background music distracting and unhelpful. But otherwise an excellent job.

[@bubiruski8067]

3:41 The Germans considered the British Radar useless since the wavelength used by the Brits were too long (this concluded by the dimensions of the antennas). By the work of the Filter Room the Brits had some success though.

[@noahwail2444]

Good vid, but turn down the music volume, it makes it hard for some to hear the narration.

[@CalibanRising]

Thanks for the feedback.

[@krzysztofgawe1089]

Well known story, but quite well "sold". Thumb up.

[@RANDALLBRIGGS]

I have never heard that there was a massive drill that ended on 6 Dec 1941, and I am skeptical of the claim. Is there some document that could be cited to support it?

[@CalibanRising]

I don't have access to the official documents and this video is from before the days people used to watch my channel, so I didn't keep very good research notes back then. I've found a reference to what I'm talking about in an online transcription of an old book: " During the week preceding 7 December, the entire Hawaiian Department, by order of General Short, engaged in a full scale exercise for seven consecutive days. Army units from Schofield Barracks deployed, antiaircraft units drew ammunition and set up stations all over the island, and the Hawaiian Air Force armed aircraft and dispersed them to protective revetments. The warning center was fully operational and launched aircraft against simulated attacking targets." www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/7Dec41/7Dec41-1.html

[@julianmhall]

Hold on... if they saw the initial contact at 0702 and got through to the switchboard at 0720 that's 18 minutes. If they were only 25 miles closer in that time that's 31.25 mph, more like a ship like the Akagi than aircraft. Even in WWI they flew faster than 100mph. The Kates top speed was 235mph, Vals top was 270mph and Zero 329mph. So being generous and taking the slowest, cruising speed was slower, probably about 190mph. In 18 minutes they'd cover 57 miles flying not 25. So that suggests the initial contact on radar was the Japanese naval force not the attacking aircraft, but I thought the aircraft were launched well out of range of radar?

[@CalibanRising]

Good point. I'd have to look into it, but I wonder if they took a direct route in or not? I've never been to that part of the world, but maybe they wanted to approach from the "US" side. Could that account for the strange discrepancy in speed and distance? I'm also not discounting that the information I found was incorrect too.

[@julianmhall]

@@CalibanRising According to Wikipedia, not itself a reliable source, but /its/ sources should be 'As the first wave [in context, of aircraft] approached Oahu, it was detected by the US Army SCR-270 radar at Opana Point near the island's northern tip. This post had been in training mode for months, but was not yet operational. The operators, Privates George Elliot Jr. and Joseph Lockard, reported a target to Private Joseph P. McDonald, a private stationed at Fort Shafter's Intercept Center near Pearl Harbor. But Lieutenant Kermit A. Tyler, a newly assigned officer at the thinly manned Intercept Center, presumed it was the scheduled arrival of six B-17 bombers from California. The Japanese planes were approaching from a direction very close (only a few degrees difference) to the bombers, and while the operators had never seen a formation as large on radar, they neglected to tell Tyler of its size. Tyler, for security reasons, could not tell the operators of the six B-17s that were due (even though it was widely known).' So that's saying the radar detected /aircraft/.. again with the speed thing though. According to Britannica the launch point was 275 miles north of Hawaii - www.britannica.com/event/Pearl-Harbor-attack - so the ships would have come closer but not much. Not sure if that was in radar range of Hawaii. I'd have to say probably not. Also this specifically says the radar saw planes '... In these same morning hours, U.S. Army Pvt. George Elliott, practicing on the radar set after its normal closing time, noticed a large flight of planes on the screen...' A different Wikipedia article says the radar detected the raid at a range of 130 miles, which sounds realistic if the first wave arrived 45 minutes later, so traveling at about 170 odd mph. So in 18 minutes they'd be 52 miles closer, roughly 80 miles or 28 mins away.

[@nickdanger3802]

They flew almost due east until Kaneohe NAS (now MCAS) on the NE coast, turned south and attacked it then over the mountains to the harbor.

[@johndaniel4597]

A nice informative account, although I sometimes struggled to hear what the narrator was saying above the musical soundtrack.

[@CalibanRising]

Thanks for the feedback. I've since abandoned background music for this reason.

[@batmandeltaforce]

If he had stopped it, he'd have been court-martialled:)

[@robertristelhueber4459]

No, he couldn't have stopped the attack. The most Tyler could have done was pass a warning on to higher authorities, who may well have dismissed it as a false alarm just as Tyler did. But let's say those higher authorities did take it seriously and acted quickly. By the time it moved up the chain of command and the alarm was sounded, it would only have given them 30-40 minutes to prepare for the attack. Not enough time to move the ships out of harm's way or to get most of the planes off the ground. The damage might have been mitigated, and the Japanese attackers might have paid a higher price, but it wouldn't have stopped Japan from inflicting a serious blow on the Pacific fleet.

[@williamrobinson827]

Even if we had a half hour warning, the ships may have been moved out, they would have still been vulnerable, and more of them would have likely been completely lost. Many of the warships were salvaged, thanks to the shallow harbor.

[@robertschultz6922]

Radar was one of the greatest inventions that was under used in early WW II. I really think the us military she have spent a lot more funding to r&d of the new technology. This and the jet else and the ballistic missile were highly ignored!!!

[@wbertie2604]

It is ironic that the USA didn't do more in the 1930s since the USA actually did the first experiments in it, not the UK. The USA ones were much shorter range than Watson-Watt's, and his were almost certainly not informed by anything that had been done in the USA. The USA, having large industrial capability to throw at it, at first adopted British technology then leapfrogged it later in WW2. Germany was quite early to the party too, but having just taken over France, had no equivalent to Chain Home. Even France had experimented with it, but on ships, primarily to detect coastlines. (Apparently ships and coasts only mix well in very controlled ways).

[@andysheepleton]

Worse yet they had all kinds of warnings leading up to this.

[@johnbeavin9170]

Amazing you have only one comment for such an informative video.

[@CalibanRising]

Glad you liked it

[@cvtsboy]

Excellent article, but why spoil it with unnecessary music droning away in the background. It does not add to the story.

[@kevinconnelly3662]

The use of radar it's benefits used in England should've been more effectively utilized by united states and thus its equipment that could have actually been used in Guam, and Hawaii Getting those ships prepared to leave harbor or man it's guns and get the aircraft up to take on torpedo Aircraft. There was a general named puller that did a assessment of Hawaii defense strategy and found it greatly lacking as ships in Port could be taken out easily with few well placed bombs and anti aircraft guns nowhere to found those he did find had no ammunition and were water cooled but there were no buckets and no water but than again with no bullet who needs water.

[@williamlouie569]

Even Chennault with no radar was able setup network of observers to alert and track any aircraft in his area. He was able to sent fighters way before the enemies arrive. So Pearl Harbor was failures of major proportion.

[@stevewhisperer6609]

Quite true, but the Chinese and Japanese were in a war with each other at around that time, so that puts the situation in a very different perspective, compared to the period leading up to Pearl Harbor.

[@stevenbass732]

Yes and no. Chenault had the advantage of having several locations to send fighters into combat. Also, the aircraft were always ready to fly. It does make a difference.

[@nickdanger3802]

How was that going to work when surrounded by ocean? Oʻahu is 44 miles (71 km) long and 30 miles (48 km) across.

[@jamessimms415]

@@nickdanger3802 That was my thought

[@Thermopylae2007]

Chennault had the advantage of an EW system based on observers who would phone in sightings, and since the Japanese were unaware of their being tracked, they never changed course, making it easy to estimate their route and time of arrival upon target. It was not applicable to a few small Islands in open ocean.

[@andyoertig2007]

WRONG!!! The Imperial Japanese Naval Aviator were COMBAT VETERANS & the Cream of the Chop! The top 1% of the IJN.... Granted, the Chinese weren't much of a challenge, but it is aerial combat!

[@bryansmith1920]

It was enough that the attitude current at the time toward Eastern Nations having been easily overcome could be done so again the death knell for many aspiring Empires But also American propaganda by American manufacturing co. That America has the best They do aspire to be now but they certainly were not then

[@alexlanning712]

America never could take a collective blame, they always have to single out individuals

[@argus1393]

The blame goes to the top. Admrial Kimmel and General Short.

[@ScooterFXRS]

I blame FDR and the intelligence services for not alerting Pearl to the incoming attack which they later pinned on the commander of Pearl who they purposefully kept in the dark, along with many others.

[@RANDALLBRIGGS]

Nobody in the U.S. chain of command, right up to FDR, knew that there was a Japanese fleet steaming toward Hawaii. There had been several warning that war might begin soon, but nobody understood the specifics of how that war might begin.

[@samiam619]

Read “At Dawn We Slept”. He goes into the 7 (seven!) chances we had to avert, or at least minimize the attack.

[@samiam619]

Also, at least they didn’t bomb the vital tank farm and only sank obsolete Battleships.

[@californiadreamin8423]

@@RANDALLBRIGGS What did FDR and the US military think the Japanese would do following the provocative recent embargo on oil to Japan ? It appears that lip service was paid to the threat posed…..or was it ?

[@nerdyali4154]

It wasn't purposeful. As soon as the Japanese intent to attack was known a warning was sent to Pearl Harbour and all of the other potential targets, but radio transmission was disrupted so it went by telegram and arrived late. The senior officer who issued the command didn't telephone, presumably because nobody told him about the radio problems and it is only with hindsight that we know Pearl Harbour was the target.

[@stevenbass732]

Actually, it's unfair to claim that Lt Tyler could have "stopped the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor". First off, the man had no training in the job he had that day and he had been told that a flight of B17s were inbound. Secondly, he was told that the aircraft were 140 miles out. That's only an hour away. Bear in mind, that it was a Sunday and the men were exhausted from back to back alerts. The best that could happen was to have the anti aircraft manned. The majority of the aircraft had been defueled and disarmed. It would have been impossible to refuel and arm the aircraft in an hour. If you want to blame someone, blame FDR and his service chiefs. Even though they had firm knowledge of what was going to happen, they intentionally sent vague messages to the on site commanders.

[@CalibanRising]

A fair analysis. I still can't believe the Americans had just ended armed exercises so soon before the attack. It's all very fascinating.

[@stevenbass732]

@@CalibanRising Because of the vague messages, the soldiers, sailors and marines had been in a near constant state of alert. If you have never been on full alert status, you have no idea how tiring it is. Sleep and rest become strangers because you must be able to respond to an attack immediately. After 2 months of alerts, everyone from the brass on down were worn out. Good video BTW.

[@hsinyi22]

Long Beach!

[@TheDauntless63]

Fort Shafter.

[@44hawk28]

No time was this Lieutenant ever going to stop the attack. He might have been able to slow it down, but he wasn't going to be able to stop it. The people who could have prepared the island to actually defend itself when Washington DC and knew exactly when the attack was coming. They already had the Japanese codes. They knew exactly the date and time of the attack. In the world do you think that they were smart enough to move the aircraft carriers and left the vast majority of ships there that were in need of replacement anyway. They had to find a way to get the United States to enter the war because it had been prepared for them. If we hadn't stuck our nose into World War I where it didn't belong in the first place World War II might never have occurred!

[@CalibanRising]

Perhaps if it had happened 24 hours earlier?

[@nerdyali4154]

There is no evidence of conspiracy. The island was warned about the attack, by telegram because of atmoshperic conditions interfering with radio, and the telegram delivery was painfully slow. The officer on the mainland who sent the warning could have telephoned, but he probably assumed the radio transmission would have gone through and wasn't told otherwise..

[@wbertie2604]

A Japanese declaration of war and an attack on Pearl Harbour (and all the other locations) would have been sufficient to have the USA enter WW2 without the need for Pearl Harbour to have been caught napping. And many of the ships sunk or damaged were salvaged or repaired which suggests that having them sunk wasn't optimal for the USA.

[@janwitts2688]

Yes the US officers mostly spent their preparation years partying with the local girls instead of doing their job.... this resulted in many many lost lives especially of cruiser crews whose captains had not conducted relevent training for night actions... (documented by the crews)... truely usa is its own worst enemy.. failure to prepare properly for conflict... the same today with units cut down and training ignored due to need to concentrate of insurgent woke agenda training... many will die needlessly because of this....

[@PORRRIDGE_GUN]

Rubbish. Where do you get your history from? Pat Buchanan?

[@edwardfalcus5842]

You have been watchin From here to eternity with frank gettin drunk while on guard duty!

[@janwitts2688]

@Edward Falcus No I have been reading the after action reports from usn survivors on how rubbish their commanding officers were at night fighting.. many have questioned why they waited to te wartime to practice when the Japanese practiced before the war.. thus resulting in superior usn ships being wiped out by IJN vessels with more skilled crews but no radar etc.... fortunately this resulted in the commanders responsible being killed or removed from the theatre by natural selection and the remainder learning on the job..... less dancing and drinking in hawaii and more battle training before hostilities commence ....

[@infozencentre]

OK video, but misses something totally important, the Title of the video, it implies his story, but mostly we get the story of Pearl Harbour, what happened to him? Clearly he had a long enough career to serve into the 1950's in USAAF (hense the post war uniform in the photo you used), so what happened? You don't address this, pity. Maybe the Title should be changed to reflect the actual focus of the video

[@CalibanRising]

Thanks for the feedback.

[@dirkellis9212]

Di at that time radar range was at best 30-50 miles but none the less

[@eugenehong8825]

They knew about the attack in advance. It's why their aircraft carriers were away. There's also the story of the USS Indianapolis being rushed out of Pearl just prior to the attack. Turned out the ship was the same cruiser Roosevelt served aboard when he was a young sailor. The irony...

[@c123bthunderpig]

I do enjoy your videos , they are put together very well and the graphics excellent. Plus I understand the difficulty in obtaining copyright material you have referenced before. However, its kind of a double sided sword every time I try to watch. You still use incorrect photos to make a point like the Lindbergh photo, he is talking to MOH awarded Thomas Mcquire, the B17 is not from the group flying in. The comment of rookie pilots limiting 2 instead of three attacks, they could have easily accomplished that for many reasons reasons I won't go into. The US knew exactly where the Japanese task force was at all times. Pearl Harbor was ALLOWED to happen by FDR . You are correct even with warning there were not enough aircraft to make a difference the Japanese had anticipated that. They're are many " enigma's " to WW2, Pearl Harbor being one. It's your channel and I wouldn't know the first thing about making a video, Your format is excellent and enjoyable I and maybe others would just like to see more accuracy , today's generation don't even know what Pearl Harbor was or a P40 so may be it doesn't matter.

[@CalibanRising]

Thanks for the feedback and encouragement. I have to admit that my older videos will be a lot less accurate when it comes to visuals, but it's something I do try and pay attention to now. As you say, getting the right image is not always legally possible and sometimes I just don't spot the mistake before it's published. Thanks for watching.

[@lawrencemarocco8197]

The British proved the value of RADAR a year and a half earlier but apparently the lesson was lost on the US brass.

[@73Trident]

Wow- Royal Navy King George V's Battleships were escorting the the Japanese aircraft carriers.