James O . Richardson James Otto Richardson ( 18 September 1878 – 2 May 1974 ) was an admiral in the United States Navy who served from 1902 to 1942 . As Commander in Chief , Pacific Fleet , he protested against the redeployment of the fleet forward to Pearl Harbor , believing that a forward defense was neither practical or useful , and that the Pacific Fleet would be the logical first target in the event of war with Japan . He was subsequently relieved of command in February 1941 . His concerns were to be proved justified in December . Early life and career . Richardson was born in Paris , Texas . He entered the Naval Academy in 1898 and graduated fifth in a class of eighty - five with the class of 1902 . His first duty assignments were in the Asiatic Squadron , where he took part in the Philippine campaign , and , after 1905 , in the Atlantic Ocean . In 1907 - 09 , Lieutenant Richardson commanded the torpedo boat s " Tingey " and " Stockton " , and the Third Division , Atlantic Torpedo Flotilla . He was a member of the first class of the Navy ' s Post Graduate Engineering School in 1909 - 11 , then served as an engineer in the battleship USS " Delaware " and on the staff of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet . In 1914 , Richardson was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander and was attached to the Department of the Navy ' s Bureau of Steam Engineering , where he worked to assure the Navy ' s fuel supply . World War I and interwar years . In 1917 - 19 , Commander Richardson was navigator and executive officer of the battleship USS " Nevada " . Following a tour at the Naval Academy , he was given command of the gunboat USS " Asheville " in 1922 and took her out to Asiatic waters , where he also had command of the South China Patrol . Captain Richardson was Assistant to the Chief , Bureau of Ordnance , in 1924 - 27 . In the later 1920s , he commanded a destroyer division , then returned to the U . S . for service with the Bureau of Navigation ( BuNav ) . In January 1931 , Captain Richardson placed the new heavy cruiser " Augusta " in commission and commanded her for more than two years . After a tour as a Naval War College student in 1933 - 34 , he was Budget Officer at the Navy Department , receiving promotion to rear admiral while in that position in December 1934 . His early duties as a flag officer included command of a Scouting Force cruiser division , service as Chief of Staff and aide to the United States Fleet ' s commander , and a tour as Commander Destroyers , Scouting Force . He became Assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations in June 1937 and a year later became chief of the Bureau of Navigation . In June 1939 , Richardson went back to sea as Commander , Battle Force ( ComBatFor ) , U . S . Fleet , with the temporary rank of admiral . Pearl Harbor and aftermath . Beginning in January 1940 , he was Commander in Chief , Pacific Fleet ( ) . At the time of his appointment , Richardson " was one of the Navy ' s foremost figures . Since his earliest days , after leaving Annapolis , he had made the study of Japanese warfare his life ' s work . He was beyond question the Navy ' s outstanding authority on Pacific naval warfare and Japanese strategy . " He held this position during a stressful period marked by the fleet ' s forward deployment to Pearl Harbor from its traditional base in San Diego , California . Richardson protested this redeployment to President Franklin D . Roosevelt and to other politicians in Washington . He argued such a forward defense was not practical or useful , despite Japan ' s attack on China and whatever promises had been made to Britain to come to their aid if attacked . According to journalist John T . Flynn : It was Richardson ' s belief – and indeed generally supported by the Navy – that the Fleet should never be berthed inside Pearl Harbor where it would be a mark for attack . This was particularly true in such troubled times when the airways of the East were hot with rumors of approaching conflict . What is more , Richardson held the belief that Pearl Harbor was the logical first point of attack for the Japanese High Command , wedded as it was to the theory of undeclared and surprise warfare . On October 26 , 1940 , a White House leak to the Washington - based " Kiplinger Newsletter " predicted Richardson would be removed as CinCPac . He was replaced by Admiral Husband E . Kimmel in February 1941 . Upon his relief by President Roosevelt , " Richardson reverted to his permanent rank of rear admiral and served as a member of the Navy General Board , and in the office of the Secretary of the Navy until to his retirement on October 1 , 1942 . " Transferred to the retired list with the rank of admiral in October 1942 , he remained on active service with the Navy Relief Society , as senior member of a " Special Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee " on the reorganization of the national defense , and as a witness before the International Military Tribunal for the Far East . Released from active duty in January 1947 , he thereafter resided in Washington , D . C . Richardson died on 2 May 1974 . Decorations . Admiral Richardson ' s decorations included : Navy Spanish Campaign Medal , Philippine Campaign Medal , World War I Victory Medal , American Defense Service Medal , American Campaign Medal , World War II Victory Medal .