Intelligence Failure of Pearl Harbor

Intelligence Failure of Pearl Harbor

And I Was There by Edwin T. Layton

The author of this book, Edwin T. Layton, was a Fleet Intelligence Officer. Along with others, he was tasked with breaking into the secret codes used by Japan. Finally, they were able to get through and have an idea of what the Japanese Navy was generally planning to do. However, Pearl Harbor had no decoding machine of the type that was needed and therefore intercepted information had to be sent elsewhere, decoded, and sent back. The main thesis in Layton's book is that Pearl Harbor was denied important intelligence. If it had been received in a timely manner, the attack that took place on December 7, 1941 could have been avoided. Whether or not this is completely accurate, however, remains a topic of debate. There were other alleged errors made at Pearl Harbor as well, and because of those errors it is very difficult to say with certainty whether Layton is 100% correct or whether the lack of intelligence information only contributed to what happened at Pearl Harbor on that fateful day. It was an unfortunate and tragic event in the history of the United States, regardless of the reasons that it took place.