Editing Husband E. Kimmel (section)

===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>