On the way home from the Philippines there was a pool aboard our ship, the West Cressy, about how far we would get before Japan attacked, based on the warning issued by the secretary of Navy. One week before Pearl Harbor day, I awoke to find our ship sailing through the midst of our whole battle fleet. The battleships all were stationary without any surrounding destroyer escorts or protection. They had no way of knowing who we were because we were purposely routed away from shipping lanes. Finally one battleship lowered a seaplane, which circled us a couple of times and then returned. No ship blinked to ask us for identification. Had we been a Japanese Q-boat or disguised as a freighter, we could have launched torpedoes into most of our battleships before they could have responded. That night the whole sky kept lighting up as they practiced gunnery exercises. It appeared to us like the fleet was inviting a possible attack. At that time President Roosevelt was concerned about the wide isolationist feelings in this country when England so desperately needed out help against the Germans. We couldn’t help wondering whether the American Navy was surreptitiously inviting a minor attack. The commander of the Pacific fleet must has been aware that our battleships were at serious risk a week before the Pearl Harbor attack. If the Japanese had been attracted by the gun fire and display of our helpless battleships, they could have accomplished what was accomplished a week later at Pearl Harbor.
About Me
- George Richards Cannon
- My early postings were intended to be in sequence, starting with “Why This Blog” posted on December 3, 2011. After reading this profile, you might want to start your reading with those early entries. I am a 93 year old husband, dad, grandpa and great grandpa. I've seen a lot of changes in the world. When I was young, vegetables were still delivered by horse and wagon. As a radio operator during World War II, I communicated via morse code. Now I use my voice-activated cell phone to stay in touch. My career as a university professor of computer science spanned the time when a single computer took up several rooms of in a computer center and was less powerful than today's $2 calculators to the present time where computers are an ever-present part of our daily life. I am now legally blind, but even there technology has come to the rescue. My computer monitor is a big flat screen T.V. with large print magnification. I type by touch with very limited ability to see and edit what I write, so either someone else will have to edit my writing or you will have to endure all the typos. I look forward to sharing my thoughts, perspectives, and memories on life.
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