WARSHIPS UNDERMANNED
PEARL HARBOUR SHORTAGE. (11.15 a.m,) WASHINGTON, Nov. 22. Responding to questions at the Pearl Harbour inquiry, Admiral Richardson said the battleships were moored in pairs, side by side, at the time of the Japanese attack because of the insufficiency of berths to handle each ship separately. That was tin* habitual 'practice. There were other anchorages in the Hawaiian group but only . Pearl Harbour had anti-aircraft protection and that protection was by no means sufficient.
,• Asked what steps he took to prepare the fleet at Pearl Harbour for war, Admiral, Richardson replied: “I did everything in my power to make the officers and men war-blinded. However, a deterrent was the fact that officers who for a long time had been friends of mine would say: ‘We cannot be on the verge of war; otherwise they would give us sufficient men to man the ships.’ ” Admiral Richardson said he was of the opinion that the President had power to increase the number of men in the navy faster than lie did. Asked if a full complement of men would have made any difference to the outcome of the Pearl Harbour attack. Admiral Richardson said that if that fiad been the only change the difference would have been infinitesimal.
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Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 305, 23 November 1945, Page 5
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208WARSHIPS UNDERMANNED Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 305, 23 November 1945, Page 5
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