Husband Kimmel

“I knew right away that something terrible was going on, that this was not a casual raid by just a few stray planes. The sky was full of the enemy.”

In February of 1882 Husband Edward Kimmel was born in Kentucky. The son of Manning M. Kimmel, an Army officer who had served in the Union Army at the First Battle of Manassas before joining the Confederate Army for the duration of the war. The younger Kimmel also had his sights set on a military career, but instead of following his father into West Point he instead was accepted to the US Naval Academy at Annapolis. He would graduate in 1904 with a commission as an Ensign, and would be assigned to various battleships.

The battleship USS Georgia, one of Kimmel’s early postings

Kimmel would participate in a global cruise in 1909, aboard the Virginia Class pre-dreadnaught battleship USS Georgia, and after the beginning of the Great War he would be serving aboard the cruiser USS California as a gunnery officer with the rank of Lieutenant. In this capacity he would be involved in the American occupation of Veracruz, where he would be wounded. Shortly afterward he would be reassigned as gunnery officer on the staff of Admiral Thomas Howard, the Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet in early 1914. In this capacity he would be involved in the American occupation of Veracruz, where he would be wounded. Eventually, he would again be reassigned, serving a brief assignment as an aid to Franklin D. Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the US Navy, during inspections of installations on the West Coast in 1915.

Battleship Squadron 9 in Scottish waters

When the United States became involved in the First World War in 1917 Kimmel was considered an accomplished gunnery officer. He had even been selected for a committee to aid the US Navy in adopting power turret systems for its new warships. With his country now at war with the German Empire, now Lieutenant Commander Kimmel formally requested sea duty on August 20, 1917, and despite the objections of his superiors (who viewed his services better used training gunnery officers), he was ordered to report to London in October. Orders would subsequently be issued for Kimmel to join Rear Admiral Hugh Rodman aboard the battleship USS New York to serve as gunner officer for Battleship Division 9 in early December. It is notable that during this period the gunnery of the American ships was observed by the Royal Navy, and found to be lacking in all ships save New York.

Orders would come in early 1918 for Kimmel to return to shore duty in Washington, DC, and despite an attempt by his immediate superiors to keep him with the Division he returned home to the United States, although he was at this time promoted to Commander. He would again serve in various roles overseeing gunnery training for several months before being reassigned back to Battleship Division 9 in July of 1918. He would eventually be assigned as executive officer of the USS Arkansas at the end of October, taking that posting just as the war was coming to a close.

The USS New York, Kimmel’s first capital ship command

After the war Kimmel would serve in various administrative positions as well as commanding destroyer squadrons before his promotion to Captain on July 1, 1926. His first sea command as a captain was of Destroyer Squadron 12, with his flagship being the USS Litchfield. He would remain in this post until May of 1930, when he was once again reassigned to shore duty in Washington with the Office of Naval Operations. He would return to sea on March 28 of 1933, taking command of the battleship USS New York, the former flagship of Battleship Squadron 9 during the war. he would hold that post for a year before taking a position as Chief of Staff of the US Battle Force. He would serve in this position for some time before being again reassigned. He would receive a promotion to Rear Admiral on November 1, 1937, serving as Budget Officer for the Navy Department.

Cruiser Squadron 7 in Peru, 1939

Eventually Kimmel would take command of Cruiser Squadron 7, with his Admiral’s flag aboard the cruiser USS San Francisco. He would serve with this unit and lead a goodwill tour of South America in the months before the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, and would eventually be installed as Commander in Chief of the US Pacific Fleet on the recommendation of Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, along with a temporary promotion to full Admiral for the duration of his posting there. Formally taking command in April of 1941, Kimmel moved his headquarters to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, with his flag officially on the battleship USS California.

Admiral Kimmel in Pearl Harbor with General Walter Short (his Army counterpart in Hawaii) and British Captain Louis Mountbatten, who was visiting in August of 1941

In his posting as C-in-C Pacific Fleet Kimmel was generally well respected, with such personalities as Admiral William “Bull” Halsey” praising his abilities, although he was not without his detractors. Some officers saw him as focused on pedantic details, sometimes at the expense of the bigger picture. Regardless, he would work to strengthen the US positions in the pacific during his tenure in command, notably ordering the reinforcement of bases at Wake and Midway Islands in order to create a better perimeter for Hawaii and the US West Coast in the face of increasing Japanese aggression. On his orders all three US carriers were out of Pearl Harbor in early December of 1941, on various assignments relating to the reinforcement.

The battleship USS West Virginia in flames during the Japanese attack

On December 7, 1941 the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the US Pacific Fleet at anchor in Pearl Harbor. The sudden air attack caught the Americans off guard, leading to the destruction of half of the US battle fleet and damaging the rest, along with a significant number of aircraft and massive human casualties. Kimmel had been at his residence when he received word of the attack, and subsequently rushed to his headquarters. Here he watched as the Japanese planes tore through Battleship Row, while attempting to find any operational units to try and first locate the Japanese fleet and mount a counterattack. As Kimmel watched his ships sink from his office, a spent casing crashed through the window, leaving a welt on his chest. He famously remarked; “It would have been merciful had it killed me”. Some witnesses also reported the Admiral tearing off his rank insignia, resigned to his fate.

The USS Pennsylvania behind the wrecks of USS Cassin and USS Downes

Kimmel was removed from command ten days after the attack, “in the public interest” according to the orders. Before the year was out, President Roosevelt had appointed Chief Justice Owen Roberts to head a commission to assess blame for the Pearl Harbor attack, which concluded that Kimmel and Army General Walter Short had been guilty of both dereliction of duty and poor judgement before and during the attack. A further tribunal was ordered when James Forrestal became Secretary of the Navy in 1944, which found that Kimmel and Short had acted in the best possible manor given the information available to them at the time. This did not please Forrestal, who was convinced Kimmel had indeed acted negligently.

Kimmel would retire in early 1942, and would see his son killed in action when his submarine, the USS Robalo, was sunk in July of 1944. He was captured by the Japanese and later executed while in custody. Kimmel himself would die on May 14, 1968.

Kimmel remains a controversial figure to this day. Many, including his family, have campaigned for his exoneration and posthumous restoration to the rank of Admiral, claiming he was made a scapegoat for the disaster at Pearl Harbor. The findings of the 1944 tribunal and a US Senate resolution in 1999 support this, although no US President has acted on the 1999 Senate resolution to exonerate Kimmel.