Bombardment of Ellwood

Bombardment of Ellwood
Part ofWorld War II Pacific WarandAmerican War
The Ellwood Oil Field and the location of the Japanese attack.
Date February 23, 1942 Location Ellwood,California,Santa Barbara Channel,Pacific Ocean Result United States oil refinery damaged
Belligerents
United States	Japan
Commanders and leaders
N/A	N/A
Strength
N/A	1submarine

TheBombardment of EllwoodduringWorld War IIwas a naval attack by aJapanesesubmarine againstUnited Statescoastal targets nearSanta Barbara, California.Though the damage was minimal, the event was key in triggering the West Coast invasion scare and influenced the decision tointern Japanese-Americans.The event also marked the first shelling of theNorth Americanmainland during the conflict.

Background

Following the surpriseattack on Pearl HarborinHawaii,seven Japanese submarines patrolled the American West Coast. They sank two merchant ships and damaged six more, skirmishing twice withU.S. Navyair or sea forces. By the end of December, the submarines had all returned to friendly waters to resupply. However, several had gone toKwajaleinand would pay a return visit to American waters. One of these was theImperial Japanese NavysubmarineI-17.TheI-17displaced 3,654long tons(3,713t) when submerged and was 365 ft 6 in (111.40 m) long. Her armament included six 20 in (510 mm)torpedo tubesand 17torpedoes,plus a14-cm deck gun.She carried 101 officers and men, captained byCommander Kozo Nishino.

The Japanese government, concerned about President Roosevelt's radio speech scheduled for February 23, 1942, ordered a Japanese submarine to shell the California coast on that day.A popular story about the attack is that Nishino had been a naval reserve officer before the war and had commanded a pre-war merchant ship that sailed through theSanta Barbara Channeland had once stopped at theEllwood Oil Fieldto take on a cargo of oil. However, after graduating from the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1920, Nishino spent his entire career as a submarine crew member and officer and did not command a merchant ship, so the story of his prewar relationship to Santa Barbara is unlikely.

Bombardment

At around 7:00 pm on February 23, 1942, theI-17came to a stop opposite the Ellwood field on theGaviota Coast.Nishino ordered thedeck gunreadied for action. Its crew took aim at aRichfieldaviation fuel tank just beyond the beach and opened fire about 15 minutes later with the first rounds landing near a storage facility. The oil field's workmen had mostly left for the day, but a skeleton crew on duty heard the rounds hit. They took it to be an internal explosion until one man spotted theI-17off the coast. An oiler named G. Brown later told reporters that the enemy submarine looked so big to him he thought it must be acruiseror adestroyeruntil he realized that only one gun was firing.

Nishino soon ordered his men to aim at the second storage tank. Brown and the others called the police, as the Japanese shells continued to fall around them.

Firing in the dark from a submarine buffeted by waves, it was inevitable that rounds would miss their target. One round passed over Wheeler's Inn, whose owner Laurence Wheeler promptly called theSanta Barbara County Sheriff's Office.A deputy sheriff assured him that warplanes were already on their way, but none arrived. The Japanese shells destroyed aderrickand apump house,while the Ellwood Pier and acatwalksuffered minor damage. After 20 minutes, the gunners ceased fire and the submarine sailed away. Estimates of the number of explosive shells fired ranged from 12 to 25.Although he caused only light damage, Nishino had achieved his purpose, which was to spread fear along the American west coast.A day later, reports of enemy aircraft led to the so-called “Battle of Los Angeles,”in which American artillery was discharged over Los Angeles for several hours due to the mistaken belief that the Japanese were invading.

ReverendArthur Basham ofMontecitocalled the police to claim he had seen the enemy submarine from his home. He said theI-17turned south towardsLos Angeles,apparently flashing signal lights to someone onshore. In reality, theI-17had sailed west, safely returning to Japan.

Aftermath

The attack was the first naval bombardment of the United States by a foreign power since theWar of 1812(Battle of Baltimoreof 1814 byBritishRoyal Navy), excluding theincidental shellingof coastlandOrleans, Massachusettsin 1918.Additionally, at about 5,100 miles east of Japan, the bombardment of Ellwood was the furthest direct attack on a land target that the Japanese Empire made during World War Two, several hundred miles further than the attacks onSydney Harbor, AustraliaandFort Stevens, Oregonin June 1942.

The reports of Nishino's attack caused hundreds to flee inland; many feared that the event was a prelude to a full-scale attack on theWest Coast of the United States.Since several people in Santa Barbara claimed to have seen "signal lights", a blackout was ordered for the rest of the night. The claims of signals were used to justify Franklin D. Roosevelt'sinternment of Japanese Americans,which began just one week later.

One night after the Ellwood attack, theBattle of Los Angelestook place. In response to claimed sightings of "enemy aircraft", anti-aircraft batteries opened fire all across the city, causing panic among its residents.

Japanese submarines continued to conduct occasional attacks againstalliedshipping off the U.S. coast during the rest of the war. Sent to American waters in hopes of targeting warships, the submarines managed to sink only a handful of merchant ships, besides conducting a few minor attacks on shore targets. These consisted of abombardmentofFort Stevenson theColumbia River,anattackon aCanadianlighthouseonVancouver Island,and twoair raidslaunched from a submarine in an attempt to start forest fires in southwestOregon.

See also

• Attack on Orleans
• California during World War II
• American Theater (World War II),detailing attacks and infiltrations on and near the Americas
• 1941,a 1979 film by Steven Spielberg, loosely based on the Bombardment of Ellwood

Further reading

• Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II:Chapter V: 1943
• Graham, Otis L.; Bauman, Robert; Dodd, Douglas W.; Geraci, Victor W.; Murray, Fermina Brel. Stearns Wharf: Surviving Change on the California Coast. Graduate Program in Public Historical Studies, University of California, 1994ISBN1-883535-15-8
• Parshall, Jon; Hackett, Bob and Kingsepp, Sander. Imperial Japanese Navy Page:IJN Submarine I-17: Tabular Record of Movement.Retrieved 7/4/2010
• Webber, Bert. Silent Siege: Japanese Attacks Against North America in World War II, Ye Galleon Press, Fairfield, Washington, 1984ISBN0-87770-315-9(hardcover).ISBN0-87770-318-3
• Tompkins, Walker A. (1975).Santa Barbara, Past and Present.Santa Barbara: Tecolote Books.
• Tompkins, Walker A. (1976).It Happened in Old Santa Barbara.Santa Barbara: Sandollar Press.