At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story Of Pearl Harbour

This is an excellent 889 page book (including index and appendix) which details the origin of the idea of the Pearl Harbour attack, as well the actual attack and the aftermath.

The Japanese had a most effective spying network based at the Japanese Consulate in Honolulu and they kept track of all the movements of the US Navy. The Americans were convinced that the water at Pearl Harbour was to shallow for the Japanese torpedoes to work, but they did not count on Japanese ingenuity. To get the torpedoes to run in the shallow water, they invented a wooden fin that was attached to the fins of the torpedo. When the torpedo entered the water this fin stopped it sinking to low and then broke off, allowing the torpedo to function as normal.

Also the Japanese wanted to use their level bombers in the attack, but lacked the necessary ordinance, so again they came up with the idea of using 16 inch battleship shells as bombs.

The biggest mistake made by the Japanese after their successful initial strikes, was not to follow it up and attack the base maintenance facilities, including the tank farm. As every drop of fuel had to be transported to Pearl Harbour the destruction of all the fuel would have crippled the Americans for months. The biggest myth about the attack on Pearl Harbour is that a bomb went down the funnel of the USS Alabama and instigated the sinking off this ship. In fact a bomb penetrated the forward magazine of the USS Alabama, detonated and sank the ship.

Although Admiral Kimmel and General Short were responsible for the defence of Pearl Harbour, they were never actually warned of the possibility of a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, despite the American reading of Japanese secret communications using the Purple and Magic machines. This meant that when the investigations began after the attack, they were set up as the scapegoats for the success of the Japanese assault and could not defend themselves as they did not have the evidence.

The public clamour for someone to be found responsible for the attack, meant that both men`s careers were ended.

---

The book clearly shows how ingenious the Japanese were in adapting their torpedoes to work in the shallow depths of Pearl Harbour, as well as adapting the 16 inch battleship shells to use as armour piercing bombs. It also shows how the various branches of the US military didn’t communicate with each other, and worse how the US Navy and Army didn’t trust each other.

I thought this book was a good read and well worth the money I spent getting it from Amazon!

At Dawn We Slept - The Untold Story Of Pearl Harbour
Gordon W Prange (in collaboration with Donald M Goldstein & Katherine V Dillon)
ISBN 0-14-100508-4

: Antoni Chmielowski

---