Editing Husband E. Kimmel (section)

==Life and career==

===Early life===
Husband Kimmel was born in [[Henderson, Kentucky]],<ref name="Axelrod">{{cite book|last1=Axelrod|first1=Alan|title=Encyclopedia of World War Two|date=2007|publisher=Facts on File|location=New York|page=490|isbn=9780816060221|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LbWFgjW6KX8C|access-date=March 16, 2017}}</ref> on February 26, 1882, to Sibella "Sibbie" Lambert Kimmel (1846–1919) and Major [[Manning M. Kimmel|Manning Marius Kimmel]] (1832–1916), a graduate of [[United States Military Academy|West Point]] who fought with the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] side during the [[American Civil War]] before switching allegiance to the [[Confederate States Army]] to fight alongside his neighbors.{{sfn|Summers|Swan|2016|p=29}} Kimmel was a descendant of [[Herman Husband]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=York Co. grandson battles to clear admiral's name |url=https://www.heraldonline.com/latest-news/article12279821.html }}</ref>

Kimmel was known by various [[List of military figures by nickname|nicknames]] throughout his life: "Kim" and "Hubbie", contractions of his given and family names, and later, "Mustafa", the last being a reference to [[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk]], due to the similar sounding ([[homophone|homophony]]) "Kimmel" and "Kemal".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Twomey |first1=Steve |title=Countdown to Pearl Harbor : the twelve days to the attack |date=November 1, 2016 |isbn=978-1476776507 |page=54 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wpg-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA54 |access-date=May 26, 2020}}</ref>{{sfn|Summers|Swan|2016|pp=29,43}}

He married Dorothy Kinkaid (1890–1975), sister of Admiral [[Thomas C. Kinkaid]], with whom he had three sons: [[Manning Kimmel|Manning]], Thomas K. Kimmel and Edward R. Kimmel.{{sfn|Summers|Swan|2016|pp=37ff}}

===Naval career===

Kimmel graduated in 1904 from the [[United States Naval Academy]] in [[Annapolis]], [[Maryland]].<ref name="Axelrod" /> One of his classmates was future [[Fleet admiral (United States)|fleet admiral]] [[William Halsey Jr.|Willam Halsey]]. From 1906 to 1907 he served on several battleships in the Caribbean.<ref name="Axelrod" /> In 1907 he was assigned to the {{USS|Georgia|BB-15|6}} during its participation in the around-the-world cruise of the [[Great White Fleet]].<ref name="Axelrod" /> Kimmel then served in the [[United States occupation of Veracruz]], Mexico, during which he was wounded in April 1914.<ref name="Axelrod" />

In 1915 he was briefly appointed as an aide to [[Assistant Secretary of the Navy]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]].<ref name="Axelrod" /> During [[World War I]], Kimmel served as a [[Gunnery sergeant|squadron gunnery officer]] in [[United States Battleship Division Nine (World War I)|U.S. Battleship Division Nine]] which served as the [[6th Battle Squadron|Sixth Battle Squadron]] of the British [[Grand Fleet]].<ref name="Axelrod" /> After the war he served as [[Executive officer#United States Navy and United States Coast Guard|Executive Officer]] aboard the [[battleship]] {{USS|Arkansas|BB-33|6}}, then in Washington, D.C., and the [[Insular Government of the Philippine Islands|Philippines]], as well as commanding two [[destroyer division]]s before attaining the rank of [[captain (United States O-6)|captain]] in 1926 upon completion of the senior course at the [[Naval War College]].<ref name="Axelrod" />

From 1926 to 1937 Kimmel held a number of positions in the [[United States Department of the Navy|Navy Department]], as well as the command of a [[destroyer]] [[Squadron (naval)|squadron]] and of the battleship {{USS|New York|BB-34|6}}.<ref name="Axelrod" />

In 1937 he was promoted to the [[flag rank]] of [[Rear admiral (United States)|rear admiral]]. In this capacity he commanded [[Cruiser]] Division Seven on a diplomatic cruise to [[South America]] and in 1939 became Commander of [[Battle Fleet|Battle Force]] Cruisers.<ref name="Axelrod" /><ref name="ww2db.com">{{cite web |last1=Chen |first1=Peter |title=Husband Kimmel |url=http://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=93 |website=World War II Database |access-date=May 26, 2020}}</ref>{{sfn|Summers|Swan|2016|pp=38ff}}

===Pearl Harbor===
[[File:NH 57100 Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, USN, Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet and Pacific Fleet.jpg|thumb|left|Kimmel (center) confers with his chief of staff, [[William W. Smith (admiral)|William "Poco" Smith]]; and operations officer and assistant chief of staff, Captain [[Walter S. DeLany]] (left), at Pearl Harbor, 1941.]]
After Admiral [[James O. Richardson]] was relieved of command in February 1941, in part for protesting that the Pacific Fleet if based in [[Pearl Harbor]], Hawaii, would be the logical first target in the event of war with Japan, Kimmel was appointed in his place as [[Commander in Chief]], [[United States Fleet]] (CINCUS). Kimmel was also appointed Commander in Chief, [[United States Pacific Fleet]] (CINCPACFLT), a position reestablished on February 1, 1941, when General Order 143 was issued, and Kimmel assumed command with the temporary rank of [[Admiral (United States)|admiral]] starting on that date.<ref>{{cite web|title=A Brief History Of U.S. Fleet Forces Command|url=http://www.public.navy.mil/usff/Pages/history.aspx|publisher=[[US Fleet Forces Command]]|access-date=June 8, 2017|archive-date=May 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511002700/https://www.public.navy.mil/usff/Pages/history.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> Kimmel earned a reputation as a hard worker who inspired subordinates, but some later criticized him for over-attention to detail, claiming it portrayed a lack of self-confidence. These critics asserted that Kimmel constantly revisited minute tasks he had done previously when he could have delegated the work to others.<ref name="ww2db.com"/>

On the other hand, Kimmel's fleet gunnery officer [[Willard A. Kitts|Willard Kitts]] later testified that under Kimmel's leadership, "the efficiency and training of the Fleet was at its highest level."{{sfn|Summers|Swan|2016|pp=66}} Halsey, who in 1941 commanded one of the Pacific Fleet's carrier task forces and rose during the war to five-star fleet admiral, described Kimmel as "the ideal man for the job."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Halsey|first1=William|last2=Bryan|first2=J|title=Admiral Halsey's Story|date=1947|publisher=McGraw-Hill|location=New York|page=70}}</ref>

The base for the fleet had been moved from its traditional home at [[San Diego]], California, to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in May 1940. Richardson had been relieved of command for his vocal opposition to this move and concerns about the fleet's vulnerability.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Flynn |first1=John |title=The Final Secret of Pearl Harbor |url=http://www.antiwar.com/rep/flynn1.html |website=Antiwar |access-date=May 26, 2020}}</ref> On February 18, 1941, Kimmel wrote to the [[Chief of Naval Operations]] (CNO), Admiral [[Harold Raynsford Stark]]:
<blockquote>I feel that a surprise attack ([[submarine]], [[Airstrike|air]], or combined) on Pearl Harbor is a possibility, and we are taking immediate practical steps to minimize the damage inflicted and to ensure that the attacking force will pay.<ref>{{cite web|title=INTELLIGENCE AT PEARL HARBOR|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/intelligence-pearl-harbor|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203060511/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/intelligence-pearl-harbor|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 3, 2016|date=4 July 1946|publisher=[[Central Intelligence Agency]]|access-date=2 December 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref></blockquote>

On April 18, 1941, Kimmel wrote to the CNO requesting additional resources for base construction at [[Wake Island]] and for a [[Marines|Marine Corps]] [[Marine defense battalions|defense battalion]] to be stationed there.<ref name="ww2db.com"/> On August 19 the first permanent Marine garrison was assigned. [[Naval Air Facility Midway Island|Naval Air Station Midway]] was commissioned in August after the completion of runways and support structures, and a Marine garrison assigned shortly afterwards.<ref>{{cite web|title=Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial|url=https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/preserving_the_past/Preparing_for_War.html|publisher=[[U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]]|access-date=June 8, 2017|archive-date=June 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170610113725/https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/preserving_the_past/Preparing_for_War.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In November Kimmel ordered {{USS|Enterprise|CV-6|6}} to ferry Marine fighters and pilots to Wake Island to reinforce the garrison, and for {{USS|Lexington|CV-2|6}} to depart Pearl Harbor on December 5 to ferry Marine [[Dive bomber|dive bombers]] to Midway. Because of these missions, neither [[aircraft carrier]] was in Pearl Harbor during the later Japanese attack.

Japan's [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] occurred in an air raid on December 7, 1941, and caused the deaths of 2,403 U.S. military personnel and civilians. [[Edwin T. Layton]] related that during the attack:
<blockquote>
Kimmel stood by the window of his office at the [[submarine base]], his jaw set in stony anguish. As he watched the disaster across the harbor unfold with terrible fury, a spent [[.50 BMG|.50 caliber machine gun]] bullet crashed through the glass. It brushed the admiral before it clanged to the floor. It cut his white jacket and raised a welt on his chest. "It would have been merciful had it killed me," Kimmel murmured to his [[Military communications|communications officer]], Commander [[Maurice E. Curts|Maurice "Germany" Curts]].<ref name="Leckie">{{cite book|last=Leckie|first=Robert|title=Delivered from Evil: The Saga of World War II|publisher=Perennial Library|year=1988|pages=[https://archive.org/details/deliveredfromevi00leck/page/340 340–41]|isbn=0-06-091535-8|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/deliveredfromevi00leck/page/340}}</ref><ref>Edwin T. Layton, ''And I Was There: Pearl Harbor and Midway -- Breaking the Secrets'' (1985), p. 315 (the scene was recreated by Martin Balsam, who played Kimmel in the 1970 film ''[[Tora! Tora! Tora!]]'')</ref>
</blockquote>
In ''[[The World at War]]'', a naval serviceman—who had been alongside Admiral Kimmel during the attack—recalled that as Kimmel watched the destruction of the fleet, he tore off his four-star [[Shoulder mark#United States|shoulder boards]] in apparent recognition of the impending end of his command.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Arnold-Forster|first1=Mark|title=The World at War |date=2001 |publisher=Pimlico |location=London|page=161|edition=3rd}}</ref>

===After Pearl Harbor===
Kimmel was relieved of his command ten days after the attack. At the time he was planning and executing retaliatory moves, including an effort to relieve and reinforce [[Battle of Wake Island|Wake Island]] that could have led to an early clash between American and [[1st Air Fleet (Imperial Japanese Navy)|Japanese]] carrier forces. [[Vice admiral (United States)|Vice Admiral ]] [[William S. Pye]] (Commander, Battle Force, Pacific Fleet) became acting CINCPACFLT on December 17. He had reservations about Kimmel's plan and decided the Wake Island operation was too risky, recalling the relief force. Admiral [[Chester W. Nimitz]] took over as CINCPACFLT on December 31 and by that time Wake Island had been invaded and occupied by the Japanese. Kimmel's CINCUS command was reassigned to Admiral [[Ernest J. King]] (at that time Commander in Chief, [[Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command|U.S. Atlantic Fleet]] [CINCLANTFLT]) in a wartime expanded role of Commander in Chief, United States Fleet (with the new acronym of COMINCH), which would also be combined with King's subsequent appointment as the Chief of Naval Operations.

In 1942, the [[Roberts Commissions#First Roberts Commission|Roberts Commission]], appointed by President Roosevelt to investigate the attack, determined that Kimmel and his counterpart, [[United States Army|Army]] [[Lieutenant General (United States)|Lieutenant General]] [[Walter Short]], were guilty of errors of judgment and [[dereliction of duty]] in the events leading up to the attack. Kimmel defended his decisions at several hearings, testifying that important information had not been made available to him.

Following the death of Secretary Knox in April 1944, his successor [[James V. Forrestal]] ordered that a [[Naval Board of Inquiry|Naval Court of Inquiry]] be convened to investigate the facts surrounding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and to assess any culpability borne by members of the Navy. The court consisted of Admiral [[Adolphus Andrews]]; Admiral [[Orin G. Murfin]], who served as President of the Court, and Admiral [[Edward C. Kalbfus]].<ref name="Naval History and Heritage Command2">{{cite web | url = https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/research-guides/modern-biographical-files-ndl/modern-bios-a/andrews-adolphus.html | access-date = January 28, 2018 | work = history.navy.mil | title = Vice admiral Adolphus Andrews – Naval History and Heritage Command | publisher = Naval History and Heritage Command Websites}}</ref><ref name="Santa Cruz Sentinel, Volume 89, Number 168, 15 July 1944">{{cite web|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCS19440715.1.1&srpos=38&e=-------en--20--21--txt-txIN-Vice+admiral+Adolphus+Andrews-------1|title=Pearl Harbor Inquiry ordered by Forrestal – Santa Cruz Sentinel, Volume 89, Number 168, 15 July 1944; page ONE|publisher=cdnc.ucr.edu|access-date=August 27, 2016}}</ref> The court convened on July 24, 1944, and held daily sessions in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Pearl Harbor. After interviewing numerous witnesses, it completed its work on October 19, 1944. Its report to the Navy Department largely exonerated Kimmel. The court found that Kimmel's decisions had been correct given the limited information available to him, but criticized then-Chief of Naval Operations Stark for failing to warn Kimmel that war was imminent. The court concluded that "based upon the facts established, the Court is of the opinion that no offenses have been committed nor serious blame incurred on the part of any person or persons in the naval service."<ref name=court>{{citation| series = Hearings Before the Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack, Part 39: Reports, Findings, and Conclusions of Roberts Commission, Army Pearl Harbor Board, Navy Court of Inquiry, and Hewitt Inquiry, With Endorsements| first = Seventy-Ninth Congress | last = Congress of the United States| publisher = Government Printing Office| year = 1946| title = Report of Navy Court of Inquiry| pages = 297, 318–321| url = http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/pha/navy/navy_0.html#9}}</ref> Because the court's findings implicitly revealed that [[Magic (cryptography)|American cryptographers]] had broken the Japanese codes, a critical wartime secret, the court's report was not made public until after the end of the war.

Upon reviewing the report, Forrestal felt that the court had been too lenient in assigning blame for the disaster. The court had found that the Army and Navy had adequately cooperated in the defense of Pearl Harbor; that there had been no information indicating that Japanese carriers were on their way to attack Pearl Harbor; and that the attack had succeeded principally because of the [[aerial torpedo]], a secret weapon whose use could not have been predicted. Forrestal disapproved of all of these findings, judging that Kimmel could have done more with the information he had had to prevent or mitigate the attack. Forrestal concluded that both Kimmel and Stark had "failed to demonstrate the superior judgment necessary for exercising command commensurate with their rank and their assigned duties."<ref name=secnav>{{citation| series = Hearings Before the Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack, Part 39: Reports, Findings, and Conclusions of Roberts Commission, Army Pearl Harbor Board, Navy Court of Inquiry, and Hewitt Inquiry, With Endorsements| first = Seventy-Ninth Congress | last = Congress of the United States| publisher = Government Printing Office| year = 1946| title = Fourth Endorsement to Record of Proceedings of Pearl Harbor Court of Inquiry| pages = 373, 375–377, 381–383| url = http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/pha/navy/navy_0.html#17}}</ref>

Kimmel retired in early 1942, and worked for the military contractor [[Frederic R. Harris|Frederic R. Harris, Inc.]] after the war. In retirement, Kimmel lived in [[Groton, Connecticut]], where he died on May 14, 1968.<ref name="ww2db.com"/>

His son, [[Manning Kimmel|Manning]], died after the submarine he commanded, the {{USS|Robalo|SS-273|6}}, was sunk near [[Palawan]] on or around July 26, 1944. The Kimmel family at the time was informed that Manning had gone down with his ship. Though it was widely believed that Manning Kimmel died on board his boat, several sources (including Admiral [[Ralph Waldo Christie]], commander of submarine operations at [[Fremantle]] at the time) stated after the war that Manning was one of a handful of survivors from his submarine, having been swept overboard as the boat sank after hitting a mine. According to these sources, Manning was captured by Japanese forces, and along with several other survivors from the ''Robalo'' was pushed into a ditch, doused with gasoline and burned alive by his captors, who were enraged over a recent American air attack.<ref>{{cite book|author=Clay Blair|title=Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KGjfqe6DcrEC| year=2001 |publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=978-1-55750-217-9|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=KGjfqe6DcrEC&pg=PA688 688]}}</ref>