Evening star., 1946-01-04

mented, that Washington officials
had the element of surprise in mind,
but at other times, in that period,
it appeared they had not. That
matter of surprise" he added, re
minds me of on again, off again
Finnegan."
When the "war warning" of No.
vember 27 was sent to the COM
manders at sea, Admiral Stark said,
''our feeling was that those officers
would practically assume we were
at war, so far as taking measures
against surprise attack were
concerned.
The admiral, emphasizing that
this should have been done regard
less of the apparent imminence of
an attack at any particular point,
added:
Il doubt if anybody in Washington
or Oahu expected an attack in 1914
or 1945, yet I am sure there was
constant reconnaissance in those
years to avoid any surprise"
AS the committee resumed hear
ings today, Senator Ferguson, Re-
publican, of Michigan, told news
papermen it should be possible to
close the hearings within the Febru-
ary Is deadline set by Congress,
despite plans for a recess of more
than a week.
He pointed out, however, that this
StilR would neceSsitate another eX-
tension of time to consider the
evidence and draw up report.
Call Kimmel January Is.
Admiral Kimmel will be called
by the committee January Is, it
was decided at closed meeting late
yesterday. He will be followed to
the stand by Maj. Gen. Walter c.
Short, Army commander in Hawaii
at the time of the Japanese attack.
The committee, at the close of
Admiral Stark's testimony, prob
ably this week end, will take a
recess until January Is to enable
the new counsel, Seth w. Richard
son, to become more familiar with
the record.
Chairman Barkley announced at
the close of the executive meeting
that Admiral Kimmel and Gen.
Short were being called at an early
date at the urgent request of their
Many Other Witnesses.
They will not be the last wit
nesses, Senator Barkley told news
There are many other
witnesses on the list which counsel
for the committee complied before
the hearings started october Is.
Toward the close of yesterdays
session, Representative Murphy,
Democrat, of Pennsylvania ques-
toned Admiral Stark about how
long it would have taken the big
ships berthed at Pearl Harbor to
move to a safer place before the
attack.
Admiral Stark said that would de-
pend on several factors, including
which way the ships were facing,
whether seaWard or toward the
shore.
Mr.. Murphy asked the admiral to
assume that when, at 10:40 am. the
day of the attack, he read the inter-
cepteds final japanese note to the
United States breaking off relations,
he had Immediately sent a warning
to Admiral Kimmel. What could
have been accomplished within the
approximately three hours before
the hostile planes came in? (The
Navy sent no message that day, but
Joined in an Army warning which
was delivered after the attack.
Admiral Stark computed that the
commander in Hawaii could not
have received the decoded message
before 11:40, Washington time
which was a little over two hours
before the japanese Struck-7:57
am. Hawaiian time.
Would Have Two Hours.
"He might have had approximately
two hours" Admiral Stark con-
ceded.
He would not hazard a guess on
what Admiral Kimmel could have
accomplished in that time
Does it not ordinarily take a
ship two hours to get up steam and
get under way?" the committee
member asked.
Perhaps, Admiral Stark agreed
adding that it was a pretty technical
question, depending on various ele-