Germany First, but Not so Fast: Admiral Ernest J. King and the War in the Pacific, December 1941-August 1942
With Trent Hone
Part of Pacific Week on WW2TV
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“Germany first” was the cornerstone of Allied strategy in World War II. Long before Imperial Japan attacked in December 1941, the U.S. military had prioritized the European theater and the defeat of Nazi Germany. However, the scope and scale of the Japanese onslaught was unanticipated. It outpaced the ability of the United States and its Allies to plan. They were forced to react, but their commitment to a European strategy constrained their options. How could they “hold” in the Pacific while preparing for a decisive blow against Germany?

Admiral Ernest J. King, the U.S. Navy’s new commander-in-chief (COMINCH), navigated this challenge. First, he personally took control of a substantial portion of the Pacific theater, unifying direction at a crucial time. Second, he drove the Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) to clarify Pacific command arrangements and establish areas of responsibility. In parallel with this, he convinced his U.S. Army peers to establish bases in the South Pacific that could stem the Japanese advance and protect the lines of communication to Australia and New Zealand. Finally, King pooled sufficient resources in the South Pacific to undertake an offensive that would challenge the Japanese and push them back.

This presentation will explore how King achieved these accomplishments. It will highlight King's strategy of dynamic opportunism rooted in underlying principles of maritime conflict. Unlike his peers in the Army, who embraced a centralized approach congruent with today’s dominant strategic paradigm of aligning ends, ways, and means, King acted first and thereby created new options. For King, strategy was a rapid sensemaking process informed by tacit knowledge and core principles that caused strategic priorities to emerge. Rather than selecting from available options, King made decisions and thereby created new options. This approach was crucial in early 1942, when the Allies found themselves facing a series of potentially crippling strategic dilemmas.

Trent Hone is an award-winning naval historian. He has presented at the Society of Military History’s Annual Meeting, the McMullen Naval History Symposium, and numerous other conferences. [ Ссылка ]

Learning War: The Evolution of Fighting Doctrine in the U.S. Navy, 1898-1945 by Trent Hone
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Fighting in the Dark: Naval Combat at Night: 1904-1944 by Vincent O'Hara and Trent Hone
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Trent Hone's previous appearance on WW2TV
Mastering the Art of Command: Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and Victory in the Pacific
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