Ernest King repeated the demonstration of Hawaii's vulnerability in 1938. His three-carrier attack began at 4:30 on a Tuesday morning, showing that surprise did not depend solely on the Sunday routine. Six years after the earlier exercise, defenders were again caught by a carrier strike. One explanation offered for the failure to reform is that acknowledging the results would have raised awkward questions about responsibility for the vulnerable posture. Bureaucratic self-protection remains an interpretation of that failure. The repeated exercise result nevertheless made the possibility of a similar enemy attack harder to dismiss.
Chapter · 1:38:41-1:41:42
Fleet Problem XIX repeated the warning on a Tuesday morning
King's 1938 attack showed that Pearl Harbor's vulnerability extended beyond relaxed Sunday routines, while the failure to act invited questions about institutional responsibility.