Kimmel and Short were relieved from command Dec. Short, commander of the Army’s Hawaiian Department, for lack of readiness to meet the attack.
Kimmel, commander of the US Pacific Fleet, and Lt. 7, 1941? Who was to blame? The next day, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox flew in from Washington to find out what had gone wrong. Why were the US Navy and Army caught by surprise and almost totally unprepared on Dec.
The smoke had barely cleared along Battleship Row following the attack on Pearl Harbor when the questions began.