January 9, 1942 - Friday - 80 years ago today

 

 Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien:

On January 9, 1942, O'Brien was still in port, undergoing a refit and awaiting its transit to the Pacific which was to begin on January 15. 

Navy Command Changes and Government Actions

 Since the day of the Pearl Harbor attack, the Navy command structure had undergone significant changes.  Admirals Kimmel and Short, who were in command of Pearl Harbor at the time of the attack, had been relieved of command.  Both awaited new assignments, but none were forthcoming; and so both eventually retired.

 On December 17th, Chester W. Nimitz was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet (CINCPAC or CINCPACFLT), and assumed command on December 31st on arrival at Pearl Harbor.  He proved to be an excellent choice, and led the Pacific Fleet throughout the war all the way to the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay.

An executive order on December 18th established that the Commander-in-Chief would have supreme command of all Navy Fleets.  Two days later, Admiral Ernest J. King was named Commander-in-Chief US Fleets, taking the notation of COMINCH, rather than CINCUS (because its sound is like "sink-us").  King was brusque, demanding and often angry, but had the vision to order the correct strategies, especially in the Pacific (such as "leapfrogging" from the Gilberts directly to Kwajalein, and then on to the Marianas).

At the same time as creating the COMINCH command, President Roosevelt also created a Pearl Harbor commission, and its report would be delivered on January 23rd.

Starting on December 22nd, the Arcadia Conference in Washington, D.C. was a meeting between top British and US leaders, including the President and the Prime Minister. Most of the plans were not immediately revealed, but included the following:

• Defeat of Nazi Germany was given the highest priority
• No allies would sign a separate peace with the Axis Powers
• Several measures for conducting the Pacific War (theater commands, military assets, shipping, etc.) were agreed.
  
• The creation of the ABDA (American-British-Dutch-Australian) Command to combine available resources to blunt the Japanese advance.

NEXT POST: JANUARY 13TH   

  More Information:

• Arcadia Conference - more details on Churchill and Roosevelt during this time
• Official Navy Chronology - December, 1941 and January, 1942