H. E. Kimmel
Kimmel, Husband Edward (1882–1968), a United States naval officer. He was in command of the U.S. Pacific Fleet when it was devastated by Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Ten days later he was relieved of his command.
In January, 1942, an investigating commission found Kimmel guilty of “dereliction of duty,” and he retired from the navy. In 1944, however, a naval court of inquiry found Kimmel blameless. Then, in 1946, a congressional committee concluded that he had made “errors of judgment” in failing to protect Pearl Harbor against a surprise attack. Kimmel and his supporters argued that he had been made a scapegoat for the Pearl Harbor disaster. He spent the rest of his life trying to clear his name. He wrote Admiral Kimmel's Story (1955) in his defense.
Kimmel was born in Henderson, Kentucky, and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1904. He became a rear admiral in 1937, and a full admiral in 1941.