“As my intelligence officer, you are more valuable to me than any division of cruisers.” -Admiral Nimitz
202: RADM Edwin Layton
United States Intelligence Officer in World War II and the Korean War
Born: 7 April 1903, Nauvoo, Illinois, United States of America
Died: 12 April 1983, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, United States of America
Edwin achieved the rank of Rear Admiral. His main contributions to the war effort in both World War II and the Korean War was in creating and developing Naval Intelligence for the Pacific Theatre.
Edwin graduated from the US Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1924. In 1925, Edwin was a part of a special ceremony in San Francisco in which Japanese and US Naval officials met for the Japanese naval cadet training squadron. One of the things Edwin and other US Navy officials immediately noticed was that all of the Japanese spoke either fluent English or French, and not a single American spoke a lick of Japanese. Edwin soon discovered that the US Navy did have a program to teach Japanese to their officers, but only two officers were accepted per year. It would take Edwin five years before he was finally accepted into the program.
In 1929, he was assigned to work as an attaché to the US Embassy in Tokyo to learn the Japanese language, one of the first navy officers to ever be given that opportunity. Edwin then served in China from 1932 to 1933. He spent the next few years serving on ships in the Pacific Ocean as well as in Washington DC. Edwin returned to Tokyo in 1937, again as an attaché. He would stay for two years, leaving Tokyo in 1939. During his two-year tenure in Tokyo, Edwin was introduced to several men who would eventually be high ranking members of the Japanese Imperial Forces during World War II, including Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who oversaw the attack on Pearl Harbor.
In 1940, Edwin was sent to serve as Fleet Intelligence Commander to the Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Admiral Kimmel. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the new Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet, Chester Nimitz, asked Edwin to stay on in his role as Fleet Intelligence Commander. Edwin was one of only two officers who remained in their same position in the Pacific Fleet throughout the remainder of World War II. He helped plan naval operations including the Battle of Midway and other parts of the Pacific Theatre, helped make the decision to target and shoot down Japanese Admiral Yamamoto, and was present aboard the USS Missouri when the Japanese surrender was formally signed in September 1945.
Amazingly, Edwin had been deemed an “alarmist” by members of the military before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Edwin had been trying to convince his superiors that the Japanese would attack the Dutch East Indies and then the Philippines (which were controlled by the United States at the time). The Navy ignored him, but only hours after Pearl Harbor was attacked, the Japanese also attacked the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines. After it became clear that Edwin did in fact know what he was talking about, the military took his role much more seriously.
Admiral Nimitz would later say to Edwin:
“I want you to be the Admiral Nagumo of my staff. I want your every thought, every instinct as you believe Nagumo might have them. You are to see the war, their operations, their aims, from the Japanese viewpoint and keep me advised what you are thinking about, what you are doing, and what purpose, what strategy, motivates your operations. If you can do this, you will give me the kind of information needed to win this war.”
In 1948, Edwin was sent to Washington DC to create the first Naval Intelligence School and serve as the school’s director. In 1950, Edwin was then assigned to be the Senior Intelligence Officer of the 14th District in Hawaii. During the Korean War, Edwin served in intelligence based in Tokyo. He continued to serve in various capacities within the US Navy until he retired in 1959.
Following retirement from the Navy, Edwin then worked for Northrop Corporation and helped open their first office in Tokyo, working there until 1963. In 1971, Edwin was honored with a chair of naval intelligence opened in his name at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. Edwin spent the rest of his life lecturing on World War II intelligence and naval history. His memoir was published posthumously in 1985.
In 2001, an award called the Rear Admiral Edwin T. Layton Leadership Award was established by the Director of Naval Intelligence. In life, Edwin received various awards including the Distinguished Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, and the Legion of Merit.
Edwin had a stroke on his eighty-first birthday, and passed away in hospital a few days later. His ashes were scattered at sea. According to Wikipedia, he was married three times.
Edwin is portrayed by Patrick Wilson in the 2019 film “Midway,” which I personally think is one of the best World War II films I have ever seen.
Badges Earned:
Find a Grave Marked
Sources:
https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/edwin-t-layton
https://www.usni.org/press/oral-histories/layton-edwin
https://navy.togetherweserved.com/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=LegacySBV&type=Person&ID=615909
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_T._Layton
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/80594892/edwin-thomas-layton