Japan Moves South - 1941 Pacific

Yamamoto

Jan. 7 - Yamamoto proposes Operation Z in letter

his goal is to destroy U.S. fleet, not invade or conquer the U.S.

will use massed carriers idea of Genda, not oversized battleships

Pearl Harbor raid to be part of combined operations to defeat British strongholds

at Hong Kong and Singapore, occupy Philippines, the Malay barrier, Java, Borneo, New Guinea, central Pacific islands
Jan. 20 - FDR's 3rd Inaugural

Jan. 27 - Joseph Grew warns of Japanese plan to attack Pearl

ONI places "no credence" in Grew's rumors
Jan. 31 - "Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere" - Indochina & Thailand, but not Russia

Matsuoka leaves for Moscow and Berlin

Ambass. Nomura leaves for the U.S.

Click 1941/02/01

Brit Empire in Asia map - cu
from ILN 1941/11/08

Lexington, Ranger, Yorktown, Enterprise from ILN 1941/12/13

Feb. 1 - issue of "Click" magazine prints imaginary story based on rumors

Feb. 5 - Gen. Walter Short arrives in Pearl - Army responsible for defenses

Feb. 14 - Eugene Dooman delivers FDR ultimatum to Foreign Minister Ohashi in Tokyo

if Japan attacked Singapore, it would mean war with U.S.

Feb. 15 - Magic intercepts Ogawa's "shopping list" for spies in Hawaii

but Pearl Harbor not informed
Mar. 14 - new consul Kita arrives in Hawaii

Yoshikawa becomes #1 spy for Japan at Pearl Harbor
Mar. 29 - Anglo-American staff produce ABC-1 plan for Pacific defense with China
Apr. 3 - FDR orders transfer from Pacific to Atlantic of 3 battleships, 1 carrier, 4 cruisers

due to emerging Europe-first strategy, Lend-Lease convoys
Apr. 10 - Yamamoto forms First Air Fleet of 4 carriers, 200 planes
Apr. 13 - Matsuoka signs Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact

allows neutral shipping to use Vladivostok

FDR on Apr. 21 rescinds Apr. 3 fleet transfer order, but re-ordered in May except cruisers
Apr. 16 - Walsh-Drought Draft Understanding basis of Nomura proposal to Hull

Stanley Hornbeck's "John Doe Associates" include China missionary and Bishop James Walsh, Maryknoll priest James Drought, banker Ikawa, army Iwakuro

Japan to withdraw from China if China recognized Manchukuo and Wang Ching-wei
Apr. 29 - Germany learns of Magic and tells Japan but ignored
May 9 - Japan-Thailand Treaty threatens Burma and Malay
June 21 - Hull insists on "public act of contrition" and end of Tripartite Pact

in addition to his Four Principles (terr. integrity of China, non-interference, Open Door, status quo in Pacific)
June 22 - Barbarossa begins - Russian troops diverted west

Japan proposes 120-day plan to conquer South by March 1942
July 2 - Imperial Conference decision to move South

1st major triumph of Magic & Sorge-Ozaki ring
July 4 - FDR warns in radio speech U.S. will "never survive as a happy and fertile oasis of liberty surrounded by a cruel desert of dictatorship."
July 16 - Konoye resigns, reforms his 3rd Cabinet on July 18

to replace pro-Hitler Matsuoka, who urged attack on Russia, with Hiranuma as deputy PM

pro-U.S. Toyoda becomes For. Min. to seek diplomatic solution
July 25 - Japan announces Indochina protectorate

begins military occupation of bases July 28 to prepare for invasions of Malay

MacArthur

July 26 - July Threshold - FDR takes decisive action:
new Philippine command created under MacArthur

AVG in China under Chennault with 100 pilots

Japanese assets in U.S. frozen

crude oil embargo July 24; aviation gasoline added Aug. 1

proposal for neutral Indochina
July 30 - U.S. gunboat "Tutiula" damaged by Japan planes near Chungking
Aug. 4 - Stimson shows Hull the Magic intercept of Toyoda's "encirclement" message to Berlin, that Japan and Ger. will encircle enemies of Russia and India
Aug. 7 - Konoye asks FDR for summit meeting

also proposes a Chinese police corps with Japanese officers and a timetable for withdrawal of troops from China

Churchill after Argentia,
from ILN 1941/08/30

B-17E with tail gun, test flight in Seattle, from ILN 1941/09/27

Aug. 17 - FDR encourages idea of Konoye summit - proposes Oct. 15 date

but Dallek argues FDR only seeking time to build up defenses after the "July Threshold" - had promised Churchill "Europe-first" at Atlantic Conference Aug. 9
Aug. 20 - Col. William Farthing report emphasizes B-17 defense of Pearl

but most B-17s earmarked for England
Aug. 28 - FDR proposes Juneau instead of Hawaii for Konoye summit
Sept. 3 - FDR rejects Konoye summit until major principles agreed on first
Sept. 4 - FDR closes Panama Canal to Japanese shipping
Sept. 4 - Japanese Cabinet's "Minimum Demands" and "Maximum Concessions"

demanded Burma road closed, no interference with Japan's occupation of China or Indochina, and re-open trade with Japan

only concession was promise of eventual withdrawal from China
Sept. 11 - FDR's 16th Fireside Chat, wearing black arm band in memory of mother Anna who died
Sept. 24 - Magic intercepts "bomb plot" message to Kita - translated Oct. 9

ship berths, torpedo nets, harbor layout - indicate aerial attack

Oct. 2 - FDR rejects Konoye offer of summit meeting unless China troops withdrawn first
Oct. 8 - Hull demands Japan withdraw troops from China in advance of any diplomatic agreement
Oct. 10 - 30th anniv. of China Republic
Oct. 15 - FDR tells Churchill: "Japan situation definitely worse. I think they are headed north."

FDR 16th Fireside Chat,
from FDRL 1941/09/11

Chiang kai-Shek
from ILN 1941/10/10

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