From what I understand the Japanese were going to declare war a few minutes before the planned attack. The Japanese Embassy in DC screwed up. This was based on the tradition of ninjas before assassinating someone sleeping would wake the person up then commit the deed.
The two Japanese emissaries arrived at Cordell Hull’s office too late for the declaration to be given. However “Magic” had given us the intelligence on the attack and Stark sat on it. Kimmel got a Telegram eight hours after the attack. It wasn’t even labeled “priority”.
Correct. One hour before.
Even with an hour's notice, the Japanese would have delivered a devastating blow at Pearl Harbor. Our inexperienced pilots would be engaged in their first air combat against experienced Japanese pilots with better planes.
I remember pre-dawn alerts while I was in Germany. We were rarely out of the gate within two hours. Our motor poll was 10 miles off base, and about half of our battery lived off post.
If it was an Air Force alert, my Platoon Sergeant had to run our platoon, as I was the Army Liasion Officer in the Wing Command Post. For Army alerts, I headed straight to the motor pool.