Japanese Shells Hit California: War Hits U.S. Soil
A Japanese submarine surfaced approximately one mile off the coast of Ellwood, California, on the evening of February 23, 1942, and fired between 16 and 25 shells from its deck gun at the Ellwood oil field near Santa Barbara. The shelling lasted about twenty minutes and caused minimal damage, destroying a pump house and a catwalk. No one was killed. The submarine, I-17, had visited the area before the war when its captain, Commander Nishino Kozo, reportedly slipped and fell into a prickly-pear cactus while visiting the oil field, an embarrassment he allegedly sought to avenge. Whether this story is true, the attack was the first direct shelling of the US mainland by a foreign power since the War of 1812. The incident triggered immediate panic along the Pacific coast and contributed directly to the 'Battle of Los Angeles' false alarm two days later, when anti-aircraft batteries fired into empty skies over the city.
February 23, 1942
84 years ago
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