Robert Alfred Theobald (January 25, 1884 – May 13, 1957), nicknamed "Fuzzy", was a United States Navyofficer who served in World War I and World War II, and achieved the rank of rear admiral. In retirement, he was the author of the 1954 book The Final Secret of Pearl Harbor: The Washington Background of the Pearl Harbor Attack.
In 1930, Theobald served as secretary of war plans at the Department of the Navy and as a member of the Joint Army-Navy Planning Committee. In February 1932 he received promotion to captain, and was Chief of Staff, Destroyers, United States Pacific Fleet from 1932 to 1934. He was a member of the advanced class at the Naval War College, engaged in a seminar study of "Japan and Pacific War" in 1934–1935, and was then put in charge of the college's Strategy Division.[5]
Theobald served as Commander of Pacific Fleet Destroyers (ComDesPac) from December 1941 until May 1942 before being appointed Commander of the North Pacific Force (Task Force 8) for operations in the Aleutian Islands in the Territory of Alaska.[5][7] The Aleutian Islands Campaign began in June 1942 and, after suffering minor defeats against Japanese naval forces, including the Japanese capture of the islands of Attu and Kiska, Theobald was replaced by Rear Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid.
After World War II, Theobald gained considerable notoriety with his 1954 book The Final Secret of Pearl Harbor: The Washington Background of the Pearl Harbor Attack, which accused the administration of PresidentFranklin Delano Roosevelt of suppressing intelligence about the attack in order to bring the United States into the war.
Personal life
Theobold was first married to Helen Reeves Berry (August 24, 1888 - February 23, 1938).[9][10] They had two children, Robert Theobald Jr. (1910–1989)[11] and Frances Theobald Brainerd (1913–2008).[12] Robert Theobald Jr. was also a graduate of the United States Naval Academy (1931) and achieved the rank of captain in the U.S. Navy.[13]
Theobald married the former Elizabeth Dartnell (August 9, 1909 – January 3, 1996) in 1941.[14]
^ abMorison, Samuel Eliot, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IV: Coral Sea, Midway, and Submarine Operations, May 1942-August 1942, Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, [ISBN unspecified] number, p. 166.
^Garfield, Brian, The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians, Fairbanks, Alaska: University of Alaska, ISBN0-912006-83-8, 1995, p. 17.
^"Theobald, Robert Jr"(PDF). USNA Cemetery Documentation Project. United States Naval Academy. Archived from the original(PDF) on September 27, 2007. Retrieved July 27, 2006.
