Edwin T. Layton
Encyclopedia
Edwin Thomas Layton was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy.
for language training. Significantly, on his voyage to Japan he met another young naval officer, Joseph J. Rochefort, assigned to the same duty. Both became intelligence officers, Rochefort specializing in decryption efforts, Layton in using intelligence information in war planning. Layton and Rochefort, both of whom were in Pearl Harbor
, worked closely together in the months before the attack, largely trying to figure out what information was being denied them by Washington, and even more closely after the war began, especially in the month before the Battle of Midway
. They both made signal contributions to that victory.
Layton was assigned to the American Embassy in Tokyo as a naval attaché where he remained for three years. While in Japan, he met Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
on several occasions. The last four months he spent in Peiping, China, as assistant naval attaché at the American Legation.
His linguistic ability and fluency in Japanese proved to be assets as his career progressed, even more so as World War II began in Europe.
During the 1930s, Layton served two tours of duty in the Navy Department’s Office of Naval Intelligence
, in 1933 and again in 1936–1937, but he also saw sea duty. He had a three-year stint in the battleship Pennsylvania
where he received commendations for gunnery excellence. In 1937, he returned to Tokyo for two years as assistant naval attaché at the American Embassy. This was followed by a one-year tour of duty as Commanding Officer of USS Boggs (AG-19).
Exactly one year to the day before the attack on Pearl Harbor
, Layton became Combat Intelligence Officer on the staff of Admiral Husband E. Kimmel
, Commander-in-Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet, which had recently been moved from its base in San Pedro, California to Pearl Harbor – over the objections of Admiral James O. Richardson, whom Kimmel replaced. Layton was in charge of all intelligence in the Pacific Ocean area.
Layton’s book describes how Kimmel and his army counterpart at Pearl, General Walter C. Short, the commanders there, were scapegoats for failures by higher-ups in Washington. Layton blames Admiral Richmond K. Turner
in particular for monopolizing naval intelligence in Washington that would have alerted Kimmel and his staff to the imminence of attack and to the fact that Pearl could be a target of that attack.
Layton’s argument is detailed and comprehensive, but in general, he maintains that although Washington was reading the highest level Japanese diplomatic code, Purple
, little of this was ever made available to the field commanders (other than to MacArthur
in the Philippines, who failed to act, not only on the Purple data but even after he knew that Pearl had been attacked). The diplomatic information that they were denied not only contained data about the imminence of war, but also included messages sent from Honolulu to Tokyo by Takeo Yoshikawa
, the spy sent to observe and report daily on the exact positions of ships in the harbor, using a grid system that was obviously designed for the purpose of targeting torpedoes and bombs. Those above Turner, including his boss, the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Stark
, and even General Marshall
also come in for blame, though some details are still missing from the official record.
Forrest Biard, another naval linguist, one who was in the last group to be sent to Japan for language studies, worked for the Rochefort Hypo
team as soon as he left Japan in 1941. Hypo was located in a basement, called by team members “The Dungeon.” In a speech to the National Cryptologic Museum Foundation, Biard describes Layton as the sixth member of the five-member team (Joseph J. Rochefort, Joe Finnegan, Alva B. Lasswell, Wesley A. Wright, Thomas Dyer) who produced the information that was vital to winning the Battle of Midway
, following Coral Sea
. He also characterizes Layton:
During May 1942, in particular, Layton and the Rochefort team were battling Washington as much as the Japanese – both as to where the next attack would occur and as to when it would occur. Washington said Port Moresby
or the Aleutians in mid-June; Rochefort/Layton said Midway, first week in June. The story of how Rochefort’s team prevailed is told in the Rochefort article, and in much greater detail in Layton’s book. Nimitz deserves the highest praise for realizing that their analysis was sounder, something for which Layton deserves a very great deal of credit, and for risking the wrath of his boss in Washington, Admiral King, something for which Nimitz alone deserves a very great deal of credit. (Selecting Admiral Raymond Spruance to replace the hospitalized Admiral Halsey was also the right move, as was the earlier decision to retain Kimmel’s intelligence officers).
Layton remained on the staff of the Pacific Fleet until February 1945, followed by a three-year tour of duty as Commander of the U.S. Naval Net Depot at Tiburon, California. During this time, Admiral Nimitz, as a mark of his recognition of Layton’s contributions, invited him to Tokyo Bay when the Japanese formally surrendered on September 2, 1945.
Intelligence work occupied Layton again, in the form of a two-year assignment as the first Director of the Naval Intelligence School in Washington D.C.
In 1953, with the war over, he was assigned to the staff of the Joint Chiefs where he was Assistant Director for Intelligence, then Deputy Director. His last duty before retirement was Director of the Naval Intelligence School at the Naval Receiving Station, Washington, D.C.
Layton retired in 1959. He went to work for the Northrup Corporation as Director of Far East Operations in Tokyo, Japan, 1959–1963. He retired from Northrup in 1964 and moved to Carmel, California. Not until the 1980s were many of the documents about Pearl Harbor and Midway declassified. His book, And I Was There: Pearl Harbor and Midway—Breaking the Secrets was written with co-authors Roger Pineau and John Costello and was published in 1985, the year after Layton died.
The Naval War College
in Newport
, Rhode Island
, honored Layton in the 1960s by naming the Chair of Naval Intelligence after him.
Career
In 1929, Layton was one of a small number of naval officers selected to go to JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
for language training. Significantly, on his voyage to Japan he met another young naval officer, Joseph J. Rochefort, assigned to the same duty. Both became intelligence officers, Rochefort specializing in decryption efforts, Layton in using intelligence information in war planning. Layton and Rochefort, both of whom were in Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, worked closely together in the months before the attack, largely trying to figure out what information was being denied them by Washington, and even more closely after the war began, especially in the month before the Battle of Midway
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...
. They both made signal contributions to that victory.
Layton was assigned to the American Embassy in Tokyo as a naval attaché where he remained for three years. While in Japan, he met Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
Isoroku Yamamoto
was a Japanese Naval Marshal General and the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II, a graduate of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy and a student of Harvard University ....
on several occasions. The last four months he spent in Peiping, China, as assistant naval attaché at the American Legation.
His linguistic ability and fluency in Japanese proved to be assets as his career progressed, even more so as World War II began in Europe.
During the 1930s, Layton served two tours of duty in the Navy Department’s Office of Naval Intelligence
Office of Naval Intelligence
The Office of Naval Intelligence was established in the United States Navy in 1882. ONI was established to "seek out and report" on the advancements in other nations' navies. Its headquarters are at the National Maritime Intelligence Center in Suitland, Maryland...
, in 1933 and again in 1936–1937, but he also saw sea duty. He had a three-year stint in the battleship Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
where he received commendations for gunnery excellence. In 1937, he returned to Tokyo for two years as assistant naval attaché at the American Embassy. This was followed by a one-year tour of duty as Commanding Officer of USS Boggs (AG-19).
Exactly one year to the day before the attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, Layton became Combat Intelligence Officer on the staff of Admiral Husband E. Kimmel
Husband E. Kimmel
Husband Edward Kimmel was a four-star admiral in the United States Navy. He served as Commander-in-chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Because of the attack, he was removed from office and was reduced to his permanent two-star rank of rear admiral...
, Commander-in-Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet, which had recently been moved from its base in San Pedro, California to Pearl Harbor – over the objections of Admiral James O. Richardson, whom Kimmel replaced. Layton was in charge of all intelligence in the Pacific Ocean area.
Pearl Harbor, Coral Sea, Midway
Layton was a champion of using code-breaking information in war planning operations and had strong supporters in both Admiral Kimmel and Admiral Nimitz.Layton’s book describes how Kimmel and his army counterpart at Pearl, General Walter C. Short, the commanders there, were scapegoats for failures by higher-ups in Washington. Layton blames Admiral Richmond K. Turner
Richmond K. Turner
-Footnotes:...
in particular for monopolizing naval intelligence in Washington that would have alerted Kimmel and his staff to the imminence of attack and to the fact that Pearl could be a target of that attack.
Layton’s argument is detailed and comprehensive, but in general, he maintains that although Washington was reading the highest level Japanese diplomatic code, Purple
Purple
Purple is a range of hues of color occurring between red and blue, and is classified as a secondary color as the colors are required to create the shade....
, little of this was ever made available to the field commanders (other than to MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
in the Philippines, who failed to act, not only on the Purple data but even after he knew that Pearl had been attacked). The diplomatic information that they were denied not only contained data about the imminence of war, but also included messages sent from Honolulu to Tokyo by Takeo Yoshikawa
Takeo Yoshikawa
was a Japanese spy in Hawaii before the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.-Early career:A 1933 graduate of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy at Etajima , Yoshikawa served briefly at sea aboard the armored cruiser Asama as well as submarines and had begun training as a naval pilot near...
, the spy sent to observe and report daily on the exact positions of ships in the harbor, using a grid system that was obviously designed for the purpose of targeting torpedoes and bombs. Those above Turner, including his boss, the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Stark
Harold Rainsford Stark
Harold Rainsford Stark served as an officer in the United States Navy during World War I and World War II. Stark was the US Navy's 8th Chief of Naval Operations, from August 1, 1939 to 26 March 1942....
, and even General Marshall
George Marshall
George Catlett Marshall was an American military leader, Chief of Staff of the Army, Secretary of State, and the third Secretary of Defense...
also come in for blame, though some details are still missing from the official record.
Forrest Biard, another naval linguist, one who was in the last group to be sent to Japan for language studies, worked for the Rochefort Hypo
Station HYPO
Station HYPO, also known as Fleet Radio Unit Pacific was the United States Navy signals monitoring and cryptographic intelligence unit in Hawaii during World War II. It was one of two major Allied signals intelligence units, called Fleet Radio Units in the Pacific theaters, along with FRUMEL in...
team as soon as he left Japan in 1941. Hypo was located in a basement, called by team members “The Dungeon.” In a speech to the National Cryptologic Museum Foundation, Biard describes Layton as the sixth member of the five-member team (Joseph J. Rochefort, Joe Finnegan, Alva B. Lasswell, Wesley A. Wright, Thomas Dyer) who produced the information that was vital to winning the Battle of Midway
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...
, following Coral Sea
Coral Sea
The Coral Sea is a marginal sea off the northeast coast of Australia. It is bounded in the west by the east coast of Queensland, thereby including the Great Barrier Reef, in the east by Vanuatu and by New Caledonia, and in the north approximately by the southern extremity of the Solomon Islands...
. He also characterizes Layton:
During May 1942, in particular, Layton and the Rochefort team were battling Washington as much as the Japanese – both as to where the next attack would occur and as to when it would occur. Washington said Port Moresby
Port Moresby
Port Moresby , or Pot Mosbi in Tok Pisin, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea . It is located on the shores of the Gulf of Papua, on the southeastern coast of the island of New Guinea, which made it a prime objective for conquest by the Imperial Japanese forces during 1942–43...
or the Aleutians in mid-June; Rochefort/Layton said Midway, first week in June. The story of how Rochefort’s team prevailed is told in the Rochefort article, and in much greater detail in Layton’s book. Nimitz deserves the highest praise for realizing that their analysis was sounder, something for which Layton deserves a very great deal of credit, and for risking the wrath of his boss in Washington, Admiral King, something for which Nimitz alone deserves a very great deal of credit. (Selecting Admiral Raymond Spruance to replace the hospitalized Admiral Halsey was also the right move, as was the earlier decision to retain Kimmel’s intelligence officers).
Layton remained on the staff of the Pacific Fleet until February 1945, followed by a three-year tour of duty as Commander of the U.S. Naval Net Depot at Tiburon, California. During this time, Admiral Nimitz, as a mark of his recognition of Layton’s contributions, invited him to Tokyo Bay when the Japanese formally surrendered on September 2, 1945.
Intelligence work occupied Layton again, in the form of a two-year assignment as the first Director of the Naval Intelligence School in Washington D.C.
Korean War
Starting in 1950, Layton spent six months as Intelligence Officer on the staff of the Commandant, Fourteenth Naval District in Hawaii. His evaluative skills and keen interpretation of events were vital during the early stages of the conflict. In 1951, for a two-year period, he assumed his old position of Fleet Intelligence Officer on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet.In 1953, with the war over, he was assigned to the staff of the Joint Chiefs where he was Assistant Director for Intelligence, then Deputy Director. His last duty before retirement was Director of the Naval Intelligence School at the Naval Receiving Station, Washington, D.C.
Layton retired in 1959. He went to work for the Northrup Corporation as Director of Far East Operations in Tokyo, Japan, 1959–1963. He retired from Northrup in 1964 and moved to Carmel, California. Not until the 1980s were many of the documents about Pearl Harbor and Midway declassified. His book, And I Was There: Pearl Harbor and Midway—Breaking the Secrets was written with co-authors Roger Pineau and John Costello and was published in 1985, the year after Layton died.
Honors
Layton’s honors include:- Distinguished Service Medal and Commendation RibbonNavy Distinguished Service MedalThe Navy Distinguished Service Medal is a military award of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps which was first created in 1919. The decoration is the Navy and Marine Corps equivalent to the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, and the Coast...
; - American Defense Service MedalAmerican Defense Service MedalThe American Defense Service Medal is a decoration of the United States military, recognizing service before America’s entry into the Second World War but during the initial years of the European conflict.-Criteria:...
, Fleet Clasp; - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign MedalAsiatic-Pacific Campaign MedalThe Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal is a service decoration of the Second World War which was awarded to any member of the United States military who served in the Pacific Theater from 1941 to 1945 and was created on November 6, 1942 by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was...
; - World War II Victory Medal;
- United Nations MedalUnited Nations MedalThe term United Nations Medal refers to one of several international decorations which are issued by the United Nations to the various militaries of the world for participation in joint international military and police operations such as peacekeeping, humanitarian efforts, and disaster relief...
; - Navy Unit CommendationNavy Unit CommendationThe Navy Unit Commendation of the United States Navy is an award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944...
The Naval War College
Naval War College
The Naval War College is an education and research institution of the United States Navy that specializes in developing ideas for naval warfare and passing them along to officers of the Navy. The college is located on the grounds of Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island...
in Newport
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
, Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
, honored Layton in the 1960s by naming the Chair of Naval Intelligence after him.