This is coolbert: Here is a bit of anecdotal apocrypha as related by the ex-intelligence officer, Lladislas Farago, that if true, changes your whole perspective on the Japanese sneak attack at Pearl Harbor.

The conventional wisdom, as accepted by historians to this day, is that the Japanese battle fleet, onroute to Hawaii, maintained absolute radio silence the entire way. This to preclude the intercept of radio transmissions by U.S. radio monitors. Intercepts that would allow for detection of the Japanese fleet. Detection that could not be allowed.

According to Farago, this prevailing conventional wisdom may be wrong. The Japanese fleet did communicate via radio, this communications was intercepted, and the intercepts brought to the attention of U.S. Naval authorities. TO NO AVAIL!!

The anecdote as told by Farago goes something like this:

In the week prior to December 7, the American steamship S.S. Lurline was making it's normal scheduled voyage from San Francisco to Honolulu. During this voyage, during hours of darkness, the ship's radio officer was able to intercept coded radio communications emanating from the low frequency band [below 500 KHZ]. Using the on-board directional antenna of the Lurline, the radio officer was able to determine from lines-of-bearing that the transmissions were coming from the direction of the north Pacific. These transmissions were duly recorded in the Lurline's log, and attested to by the ship's Captain and other officers, who themselves listened to the radio transmissions. Upon docking at Honolulu, on December 6, the Captain brought these transmissions to the immediate attention of naval authorities, who assured the Captain that the navy was aware of the matter and it was being attended to. Of course, the rest is history. The next day, December 7, the Japanese successfully attacked, and caught the American fleet at anchor, with disastrous results for the U.S. Navy. On December 10, the Lurline, carrying a large contingent of military dependents, returned to San Francisco. Just prior to sailing, an armed naval party boarded the ship, confiscated the ship's log, and left without comment. To this day, the log has not been seen, and in all probability, will not be!!

In all likelihood, here is what happened. The Japanese fleet, sailing to Hawaii, did maintain radio silence. But in the HIGH FREQUENCY BAND [3-30 MHZ]. This is where U.S. radio monitors would have routinely listened for transmissions from the Japanese fleet. What the radio officer and others aboard the Lurline may have heard is what is referred to as "buzzers". Low power transmissions that would have been for communication WITHIN the Japanese fleet itself. Low frequency transmissions of low power not normally interceptable over long distances. These transmissions would have been to coordinate the movements of the Japanese ships while enroute to Hawaii, BUT ONLY WITHIN THE FLEET ITSELF! Perhaps conditions were such that these transmissions, normally only audible over relatively short distances, were propagating many thousands of miles. If only U.S. radio monitors had been listening in on the right frequencies, they could have intercepted these transmissions, radio-located the transmitters, and detected the Japanese fleet [They would have initially not known the extent of the Japanese fleet operation. But they very well have surmised that something was afoot that needed further looking into]!! But it was not to be!!

coolbert.