Evening star., 1945-12-17
Admiral Regrets
Missing Aim Of
JapSpykessage
Wilkinson Tells of
Request in 194l for
Bombing Plot
By ]. A. O'LEARY and
CARTER BROOKE JONES

VlCc AuIIllTdl 1QeOQOTe .. Will
kinson, former chief of Naval
Intelligence, told the Pearl Har-
Dor Investigating Committee to-
day he regretted that in the fall
OF 1941 he did not evaluate an
intercepted Japanse message to
spies in Honolulu as a request
for a bombing plot" of Pearl
Harbor.
Under questioning by Assistant
Committee Counsel Gerhard Gesell,
Admiral Wilkinson said he was
aware OF this message, but added:
Il did not-I regret, of course
attribute to it the bombing plot
significance that now obtains"
He said his recollection is he men
toned the message to one or two
officers in the Navy Department,
and remarked, THE japanese seem
quite curious about the layout of
Pearl Harbor." He said, however,
that he attributed it to the nice
ties" of their intelligence, explaining
that they had reputation for being
meticulous about every bit of infor-
nation they obtained.
Message to Jap Agents.
The message in question was from
Tokyo to Japanese agents in Homo
lulu, directing them henceforth to
divide Pearl Harbor into series of
blocked areas and to indicate the
locations of ships in each area.
The fifth week of hearings started
of with another political flareup
among committee members, with a |
Democrat, Senator Lucas of Illinois.
threatening to inquire further into
the background of persons aiding
Republican members. Republicans
retallated by suggesting that the
former employment of committee
employees be investigated. /
Chairman Barkley announced at
the noon recess he may call a |
closed session of the committee late
today to decide on a resolution to
be put through Congress this week
extending the life of the committee,
which otherwise will expire Janu-
ary 8.
Senator Barkley said he would
favor some time limit in the new
resolution and would not agree to
having it extended until the end
OF this Congress a year from now.
He said also the committee would
take steps toward obtaining new
counsel to replace William D.
Mitchell, who has said he viii quit
with his staff by January l..
Picked Up Spies in U. s.
Senator Barkley said he has not
made up his mind whether he can
continue as chairman.
In addition to the messages that
were being intercepted and decoded
in 1941, Admiral Wilkinson told the
committee that American authori-
ties apprehended two or three JAP
anese naval officers on the West
Coast gathering information about
ship movements all the way from
Seattle down to San Diego.
He said their documents indicated
they were to collect ship movements
from any place except Hawaii or
the Philippines, the inference being
that those points were being
watched by others.
Mr.. Gesel wanted to know if
these japanese officers were obtain
ing aerial maps of West Coast har-
bors similar to the bombing plot"
map they had asked for from Pearl
Harbor.
Admiral Wilkinson said that gen.
orally these Jap officers were sup
posed to check up on ship move
mentS, but that in one case one of
them was trying to obtain at Brem-
erton, Wash. "a navy Yard, in
formation as to ships tied to docks
and those at anchor in the stream.
Navy Curbed Information.
Admiral Wilkinson testified earlier
that during the critical months of
194l that eliminated in the attack
on Pearl Harbor the Office of Naval
Intelligence was forbidden by higher
authority to give the sea commands
information of "secret diplomatic
conversations" or japanese military
news derived from intercepted and
decoded messages.
This policy, he said, was laid down
by Admiral Harold R. Stark, then
Chief of Naval Operations.
The ban on information which
Naval Intelligence could send fleet or
shore commanders included any
military or naval, movements of
anti-Axis nations, Admiral Wilkin-
son explained.
when Russia entered the war;"
he said, "its operations were not to
be disclosed"
Admiral Wilkinson related that
he set death trap for Japanese
Admiral Yamamoto, whose plane