Pearl Harbor: Intelligence Failure
Intelligence Failure at Pearl Harbor
Tuesday, 27 November 2012
Mathew MacDonald
997612178
Prof. Wesley Wark
Modern Espionage
HIS343
* Throughout time, many published works have criticized the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, with many scholars attributing the attack to a failure of the United States of America’s military intelligence. Initially, this conclusion seems reasonable seeing as it is highly improbable that the United States military, one of the most advanced of its time, could neglect to realize that a Japanese force was advancing on the headquarters of its Pacific Naval fleet. An intelligence failure at Pearl Harbor was caused by the fact that Washington Navy and Army officials failed to properly distribute available intelligence, make educated decisions based on unevaluated intelligence reports, take every defensive measure when sources suggested a Japanese surprise attack and utilize all intelligence sources due to a heavy dependency on MAGIC intelligence. *
When countries want to communicate with foreign embassies they want to maintain security so that other countries are not aware of their political or militant intentions. They encrypt their communications. The US cracked the Japanese cipher which was code named purple, and began to listen in on diplomatic traffic. The translations of the information they gained from this traffic, they code-named MAGIC. * * An important part of the United States intelligence gathering before December 7, 1941 was code-named MAGIC. MAGIC was highly classified diplomatic communication between the Japanese government and its foreign ambassadors and consulates. Once American cryptographers were able to decode this Japanese information, which was code-named “PURPLE”, listening stations in the Philippines and Hawaiian Islands were able to intercept, record, and translate entire messages. These translated messages then were then code-named and referred to by the United
Tuesday, 27 November 2012
Mathew MacDonald
997612178
Prof. Wesley Wark
Modern Espionage
HIS343
* Throughout time, many published works have criticized the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, with many scholars attributing the attack to a failure of the United States of America’s military intelligence. Initially, this conclusion seems reasonable seeing as it is highly improbable that the United States military, one of the most advanced of its time, could neglect to realize that a Japanese force was advancing on the headquarters of its Pacific Naval fleet. An intelligence failure at Pearl Harbor was caused by the fact that Washington Navy and Army officials failed to properly distribute available intelligence, make educated decisions based on unevaluated intelligence reports, take every defensive measure when sources suggested a Japanese surprise attack and utilize all intelligence sources due to a heavy dependency on MAGIC intelligence. *
When countries want to communicate with foreign embassies they want to maintain security so that other countries are not aware of their political or militant intentions. They encrypt their communications. The US cracked the Japanese cipher which was code named purple, and began to listen in on diplomatic traffic. The translations of the information they gained from this traffic, they code-named MAGIC. * * An important part of the United States intelligence gathering before December 7, 1941 was code-named MAGIC. MAGIC was highly classified diplomatic communication between the Japanese government and its foreign ambassadors and consulates. Once American cryptographers were able to decode this Japanese information, which was code-named “PURPLE”, listening stations in the Philippines and Hawaiian Islands were able to intercept, record, and translate entire messages. These translated messages then were then code-named and referred to by the United
Cited: Alvarez, David J.. Secret messages: codebreaking and American diplomacy, 1930-1945. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2000. Borch, Frederic L., and Daniel Martinez. Kimmel, Short, and Pearl Harbor: the final report revealed. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2005. Dupuy, Colonel T.N.. "Pearl Harbor: Who Blundered? | American History Lives at American Heritage ." American History Lives at American Heritage . http://www.americanheritage.com/content/pearl-harbor-who-blundered (accessed November 8, 2012). Kirkpatrick, Lyman B.. Captains without eyes; intelligence failures in World War II. New York: Macmillan, 1969. Wohlstetter, Roberta. Pearl Harbor; warning and decision. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1962.