December 2, 1941
*Naval Intelligence ended the bugging of the Japanese consul.
*Yamamoto ordered his fleet to Pearl Harbor. A special code order "Climb Mount Niitaka" is transmitted by Japanese naval headquarters to their carrier force bound for Hawaii. This order confirms that negotiations have broken down and the attack on Pearl Harbor is to proceed.
*Magic translates Togo's "boomerang" message to destroy all codes. (Magic was the United States codename for intelligence derived from the cryptanalysis of PURPLE, a Japanese foreign office cipher.)
Dawn
Pearl Harbor minus 5
Moderator: Moderators
December 2, 1941
Operation Barbarossa had been mostly successful, but Hitler had ordered a change from the initial plan to target Lenningrad and Moscow, and forces were diverted to attack Kiev in the Ukraine region to the south. Other units from Army Group Center were moved north to press the attack on Lenningrad and finish off pockets of resistance in Estonia.
In September, Hitler had given the order to destroy Lenningrad and take no prisoners. The German forces came within seven miles of Lenningrad to the south, west, and east, while the Finnish army closed off Lenningrad to the north but refused to go beyond the original border of land that the Soviets had taken from Finland during the Winter War.
By the end of September, Kiev had been crushed in an historic encirclement campaign. The Germans had taken over 300,000 prisoners (many of which would not survive the war) in Ukraine, but this action allowed Moscow to buy time.
By late November, units had returned to Army Group Center, but it was too late. The blizzards of the Russian winter had begun, and the Wehrmacht was not equipped for winter warfare. German troops still had summer clothing, and their vehicles, including the panzers and artillery, did not have winter weight oil. Many vehicles were caught in the frozen mud or would not run. While the bitter cold caused severe problems for vehicles, guns, and equipment, the winter weather conditions also grounded the Luftwaffe.
Frostbite and disease were rampant. Combined, they caused more casualties (over 150,000) than combat had for the German forces on the Eastern Front. Because of casualties and the low level of reserves, some German divisions were now at half strength, and many that were greater than half strength had little use of their major equipment. The Wehrmacht was a mobile army, but it relied on horses to draw artillery, and the horses suffered casualties along with the troops.
If Moscow could have be taken earlier, the Germans would likely have been able to last the winter in Russia. If Lenningrad would have fallen, the troops of Army Group Center could have been resupplied by rail.
On December 2nd, the German 4th Panzer Army were within 15 miles of Moscow. It would be as close as German troops would come to taking the capital city of the Soviet Union.
Operation Barbarossa had been mostly successful, but Hitler had ordered a change from the initial plan to target Lenningrad and Moscow, and forces were diverted to attack Kiev in the Ukraine region to the south. Other units from Army Group Center were moved north to press the attack on Lenningrad and finish off pockets of resistance in Estonia.
In September, Hitler had given the order to destroy Lenningrad and take no prisoners. The German forces came within seven miles of Lenningrad to the south, west, and east, while the Finnish army closed off Lenningrad to the north but refused to go beyond the original border of land that the Soviets had taken from Finland during the Winter War.
By the end of September, Kiev had been crushed in an historic encirclement campaign. The Germans had taken over 300,000 prisoners (many of which would not survive the war) in Ukraine, but this action allowed Moscow to buy time.
By late November, units had returned to Army Group Center, but it was too late. The blizzards of the Russian winter had begun, and the Wehrmacht was not equipped for winter warfare. German troops still had summer clothing, and their vehicles, including the panzers and artillery, did not have winter weight oil. Many vehicles were caught in the frozen mud or would not run. While the bitter cold caused severe problems for vehicles, guns, and equipment, the winter weather conditions also grounded the Luftwaffe.
Frostbite and disease were rampant. Combined, they caused more casualties (over 150,000) than combat had for the German forces on the Eastern Front. Because of casualties and the low level of reserves, some German divisions were now at half strength, and many that were greater than half strength had little use of their major equipment. The Wehrmacht was a mobile army, but it relied on horses to draw artillery, and the horses suffered casualties along with the troops.
If Moscow could have be taken earlier, the Germans would likely have been able to last the winter in Russia. If Lenningrad would have fallen, the troops of Army Group Center could have been resupplied by rail.
On December 2nd, the German 4th Panzer Army were within 15 miles of Moscow. It would be as close as German troops would come to taking the capital city of the Soviet Union.
We come from the land of the ice and snow .... 
The main attack force, under the command of Vice Admiral Nagumo, included six fleet carriers (Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Zuikaku, Shokaku). At the time, this was the largest carrier fleet assembled for battle. It was well on its way to Pearl Harbor when the "Climb Mount Niitakayama 1208" coded order was given to proceed with the attack.Yamamoto ordered his fleet to Pearl Harbor. A special code order "Climb Mount Niitaka" is transmitted by Japanese naval headquarters to their carrier force bound for Hawaii. This order confirms that negotiations have broken down and the attack on Pearl Harbor is to proceed.
Two U.S. Navy carriers that were based at Pearl Harbor were away from post in early December. The U.S.S. Enterprise was en route on a mission delivering Marine Corps fighter squadron planes to Wake Island on December 2, 1941. The U.S.S. Lexington was making preparations to get underway to carry marine aircraft from Pearl Harbor to reinforce the Midway garrison. The U.S.S. Saratoga was being refit at the Bremerton Naval Shipyard in Washington state and was not assigned to Pearl Harbor.
There are reports from IJN submarines indicated that the U.S. Navy carriers Enterprise and Lexington were at Pearl Harbor as late as November 28th, but the Enterprise has sailed. Sources indicate that the Japanese did know that at least two of the three carriers of the Pacific Fleet were not at Pearl Harbor when the order was given for its attack, but the Japanese were committed to proceeding with the attack. The carriers, while considered important, were not the major targets of the attack. The battleships of the United States Pacific Fleet were.
Here is the translation of an IJN coded message sent December 2, 1941:
Striking Force telegram No. 994. Two battleships (Oklahoma, Nevada), 1 aircraft carrier (Enterprise) 2 heavy cruisers, 12 destroyers sailed. The force that sailed on 22 November returned to port. Ships at anchor Pearl Harbor p.m. 28 November were 6 battleships (2 Maryland class, 2 California class, 2 Pennsylvania class), 1 aircraft carrier (Lexington), 9 heavy cruisers (5 San Francisco class, 3 Chicago class, 1 Salt Lake class), 5 light cruisers (4 Honolulu class, 1 Omaha class)
Last edited by Minniman on Mon Dec 03, 2007 4:27 pm, edited 7 times in total.
We come from the land of the ice and snow ....
As some of you know, I teach history and government, so I do have quite a bit of background in this subject, but I could not post without checking references. I can spell Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu because they are the four carriers the Japanese lost at the Battle of Midway, but I had to check on Zuikaku and Shokaku.wang_chi7 wrote:You two really know your history. I'm a history buff, but you guys put me to shame.
Of course, WWII historians know who Yamamoto and Nagumo were.
It may interest you that, in 1932, U.S. Navy Admiral Yarnell conducted joint Army-Navy exercises with the carriers Saratoga and Lexington that simulated an attack on Pearl Harbor. In the 1938, Admiral King of the U.S. Navy carrier command did exercises to show how naval air power could be used successfully. Again, the U.S.S. Saratoga did a fake surprise air strike on the Pearl Harbor. These operations were declassified for teaching purposes at the Naval War College, and the former was even the subject of an article in American Heritage magazine. Admiral Yamamoto of the Imperial Japanese Navy based part of his Pearl Harbor strike operation on these exercises.
We come from the land of the ice and snow ....
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wang_chi7
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I knew that, but kind of forgot about it. Thanks for the information. I just got done writing a couple papers on WWII (one on the Fireside Chats and the other on the decision to drop the bomb), but I'm pretty rusty on things leading up to the war. I do know quite a bit about Germany's push into Russia and the many fatal errors Hitler made. He could have had the war pretty much won by the time of the invasion of Stalingrad but he was fixated on destroying the city named after his enemy; its more complicated than that, but there were a couple huge mistakes he made in that campaign. Also declaring war on the U.S. proved to be a bad decision too, he didn't have to and the U.S. at the time was waiting for a reason to join the fight in Europe. He gave us that chance and I'm glad he did or the war likely would have played out much differently.Minniman wrote:It may interest you that, in 1932, U.S. Navy Admiral Yarnell conducted joint Army-Navy exercises with the carriers Saratoga and Lexington that simulated an attack on Pearl Harbor. In the 1938, Admiral King of the U.S. Navy carrier command did exercises to show how naval air power could be used successfully. Again, the U.S.S. Saratoga did a fake surprise air strike on the Pearl Harbor. These operations were declassified for teaching purposes at the Naval War College, and the former was even the subject of an article in American Heritage magazine. Admiral Yamamoto of the Imperial Japanese Navy based part of his Pearl Harbor strike operation on these exercises.
But, he did end the Great Depression, so I thank him for that
.Do you teach in HS, college, or what?