War in the Pacific:: The Classified Report of Admiral Thomas C. Hart

When the Japanese military steamrolled through the Far East in 1941 – a campaign that included the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7 – U.S. Admiral Thomas C. Hart was in command of what was known at that time as the Asiatic Fleet. Suddenly finding himself and the forces under his control facing a merciless, nearly unstoppable enemy, Hart fought back with everything that was at his disposal – which wasn't much. Hart's classic order to the Asiatic Fleet just before the battle of Makassar Strait was, "Submarines and surface ships will attack the enemy, and no vessel will leave the scene of action until it is sunk or all its ammunition exhausted."The resistance, while gallant, was unable to halt the Japanese Empire's bloody march through the Pacific. The Asiatic Fleet, which Hart had commanded since 1939, ceased to exist, and Hart was recalled to the United States for further wartime duty.Based on personal diary entries and the few official documents he had in his possession (everything else had been destroyed by the advancing Japanese), Hart wrote a classified military document detailing everything that happened in the region from before June 1941 all the way up to February 1942. That narrative is reproduced here for the first time. Rich with information about everything from troop and ship movements to military and political wrangling, it is an indispensable reference guide for both the World War II historian and casual reader.