In Washington, uncertainty reigned in the offices of the Main Navy Building. The desire to hit back was overwhelming, but the badly battered Pacific Fleet needed to exercise caution. Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, the new commander-in-chief, was famously irascible. He was furious that the British had persuaded General Marshall and Roosevelt to adopt the ‘Germany first’ policy, which meant that the Pacific theatre was obliged to go on to the defensive. British officers felt that King was a confirmed anglophobe, but their American counterparts reassured them that Admiral King was not prejudiced.
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