Canadian doc airing on HBO revisits Pearl Harbor and admiral who took the fall

Seventy-five years after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a Canadian-made documentary aims to exonerate the American admiral who took the fall.

Based on a new journalistic investigation, “Pearl Harbor: The Accused” was co-commissioned by Bell Media and the UK’s Channel 4. Montreal-based Handel Productions (“Scam City,” “Raising Pompeii”), along with London’s Arrow Media, have used archival footage and dramatic recreations — filmmakers shot along the shores of the St. Lawrence River near Montreal — to tell the story behind one of the biggest catastrophes of the Second World War.

On Dec. 7, 1941 — “a date that will live in infamy,” former U.S. president Franklin Roosevelt told Americans — Admiral Husband Kimmel was commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. He seemed ill-prepared when a massive dawn air strike by the Japanese neutralized the U.S. fleet. In total, 2,403 Americans died at the Hawaiian naval base and 1,178 were wounded. Eighteen ships were sunk or run aground, including five battleships.

Until the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Pearl Harbor stood as the deadliest single attack ever on American soil.

Based on the book “A Matter of Honor” by Pulitzer-nominated authors Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan, this new documentary argues that Washington officials knew a Japanese attack was imminent and that vital information was held back from Kimmel.

“The Americans had actually cracked the Japanese code,” says Alan Handel, the Montreal-based executive producer of the documentary. Washington had collected vast amounts of intelligence over the previous 12 months, all pointing to an attack. The question is, how much of that information was passed on to Kimmel?

“The full story of Admiral Kimmel opens a new window on what really happened,” says Handel, who suggests the documentary “plays like a political thriller.”

Kimmel, says Handel, became a political scapegoat. He was stripped of two of his four stars and demoted to a rear admiral. He retired from the navy early in 1942.

The man who succeeded Kimmel as commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Admiral Chester Nimitz, later wrote “it was God’s mercy that our fleet was in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7.” Nimitz concluded thousands of sailors were rescued and six battleships were ultimately raised because the attacks took place in relatively shallow waters.

In any event, Kimmel “took the fall for something beyond his control,” says Handel. “He lost his stars in disgrace. He lost his command. He became an angry man and went from sense of duty and resignation to being a very angry and bitter man.”

“Pearl Harbor: The Accused” premieres Dec. 5 on HBO Canada.

— Bill Brioux is a freelance TV columnist based in Brampton, Ont.