Japanese submarines on US west coast US, 1941-44
John
were (at least) two recorded circumstances in which Japanese submanines
(type unknown - variously "mini" or "fleet type"), surfaced and fired
onshore on targets in both Santa Barbara and Crescent City, California.
Anybody point the way on clarifiying this one ?
Thanks, John Brookes
Keith B. Rosenberg
It was not anecdotal at all. At least one Japanese sub did
surface to bombard some oil facilities. The damage was
minimal and nobody was killed though at least one soldier
got a minor wound.
Later in the war a Japanese sub launched a float plane that
firebombed an Oregon forest in an attempt to start a massive
fire. That did not work either. The pilot of that plane visited
the area and apologized to the people there. When he died
recently part of his ashes were scattered in the area where
his bombs hit.
********************************************************************
enor...@ix.netcom.com (Keith B. Rosenberg) (EN][)
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
********************************************************************
camelot
and I don't think that was the only such incident. Can't remember where I read about it,
though.
Jeff Joyce
facilities in California and Oregon. On 23 February 1942 the submarine
I-17 surfaced near Santa Barbara and used its deck gun to fire thirteen
5.5-inch shells into oil installations. On the night of 21-22 June 1942, a
submarine surfaced at the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon
and fired about a dozen 5.5-inch shells at Fort Stevens, a coast artillery
fort. That attack marked the first time since the War of 1812 that a
foreign enemy had fired on a military installation in the continental
United States. In early September 1942 the final Japanese submarine attack
on the American coast during the war took place in reprisal for the
Doolittle raid on Tokyo the previous April. The I-25, which carried a float
plane, launched its aircraft off the Oregon coast on the 9th of the month.
The airplane dropped an incendiary bomb on a forested mountain hill near
Brookings, starting a small forest fire that local authorities quickly
extinguished.
A good source is the 1992 book "Advance Force Pearl Harbor" by Burl
Burlingame. It discusses the Japanese submarine attacks on Hawaii and the
United States west coast in great detail. It was published by Pacific
Monograph,
1124 Kahili St, Kailua, Hawaii 96734.
Jeff J.
John wrote in message <7gi1ba$qda$1...@nntp6.u.washington.edu>...
>...there were (at least) two recorded circumstances in which Japanese submanines
>...surfaced and fired onshore on targets in both Santa Barbara and Crescent
City...
MarkASinge
At 5/2/99 5:17 PM John <jbro...@pacific.net> wrote:
>Annecdotal reports have it that, in the early months of the war, there
>surfaced and fired onshore on targets in both Santa Barbara and >Crescent
>Anybody point the way on clarifiying this one ?
Although Mr. Brookes may have heard them as anecdotes, I can assure our readers
that there are readily verified historical facts.
Early in WWII a small flotilla of Japanese I-Boats (the large fleet class of
submarines) was sent to the coast of California.
Several ships were torpedoed. One was near Crescent City, CA.
One sub surfaced and spent a jolly time shelling an oil facility near Santa
Barbara. The captain of that sub had visited that facility in the pre-war
years, when as a civi he was the skipper of a Japanese tanker. It is said he
slipped on a soggy walkway and fell in the mud in his best white uniform. He
was so deeply shamed by that event that he carried a personal vendeta against
the facility, hence his brazen attack. I have also read that his vendeta, and
his aim, was against the walkway in question -- hence his ability to fire more
than 100 rounds of HE into a massive oil facility, and not damage a single oil
storage tank! (This last point IS annecdotal).
And at one point an I-boat launched an airplane (yes -- these subs were big
enough to carry a small float plane folded up in a hanger forward of the
conning tower). This airplane then proceeded inland to drop incendiaries, with
the intent of causing a mass conflagration in the great forrests of the Pacific
Northwest. I am not sure from memory, however, if this event was from the same
round of visits which caused the first two.
These issues were well known and publicized at the time (as opposed to the
U-Boat campaign on the Eastern seaboard, which was hushed-up), and contributed
significantly to the general sense of paranoia in California and the West
coast.
If there is interest, I can provide the names of each torpedoed merchant, and
the numbers of each of the I-boats that participated (along with references, of
course).
Cheers
--------------------------------
MarkA...@aol.com
(Mark A. Singer squeezed into ten characters)
I love spam. I'm going to have spam, spam, spam, baked beens, spam and spam.
Sorry, baked beens are off today.
Well, could I have spam instead?
Rich Rostrom
>... two recorded circumstances in which Japanese submanines
> (type unknown - variously "mini" or "fleet type"), surfaced and fired
> onshore on targets in both Santa Barbara and Crescent City, California.
On the night of February 23-24, the Japanese submarine I-17 bombarded
oil installations near Santa Barbara, CA.
No other similar incident is recorde in my WW II day-by-day book
for the period from 12-7-1941 through 5-1-1942.
I-17 was a "fleet" submarine, a specialized "cruiser" type which
carried a small airplane for scouting, and had a 5.5" deck gun.
The boats of this class displaced 2,198 tons, almost 3 times the
size of the German Type VII U-boat which was their standard
ocean-going submarine.
--
Rich Rostrom | "Ah, White Lightning, that splits the skull and
| encourages the body and the sentiments!"
R-Rostrom@ |
mcs.net | -- R. A. Lafferty, _The Reefs of Earth_
Doug Porter
Manchester (Field Marshall MacArthur's biog) is a story that, whilst deeply
engaged in the siege of Corregidor, a news message arrived telling of a
Japanese submarine having "shelled Santa Barbara". MacA. is reported to
have said: "I think I'll send a wire to the California commander and tell
him if he can hold out for thirty more days I'll be able to send him help."
Dougal in England
John <jbro...@pacific.net> wrote in message
news:7gi1ba$qda$1...@nntp6.u.washington.edu...
> Annecdotal reports have it that, in the early months of the war, there
> (type unknown - variously "mini" or "fleet type"), surfaced and fired
> onshore on targets in both Santa Barbara and Crescent City, California.
>
>
William H. Wright
David Russell), Oregon. Battery Russell (2-10in guns on disappearing
mounts) did not return fire so as not to reveal their exact position.
--
William Wright
Systems Architect
The Boeing Company
Othmer
Rich Rostrom <rros...@mcs.net> wrote in message:
> On the night of February 23-24, the Japanese submarine I-17 bombarded
> oil installations near Santa Barbara, CA.
Actually as I recall it was the Standard Oil Refinery at Goleta California
which is north of Santa Barbara. They had a piece on our local PBS
Station(KECT) about this about a year ago. They have a historical program
called "California Gold" anyway to my point. It seems one of the shells(5.5)
the I-17 fired was a dud, and it landed near the ranch house of one of the
local ranchers. He called the Army and they came in, defused it, and took it
away for the duration. After the war they returned it to him and since then
he has kept it as a conversation piece on his front porch.
Jim Carew
Othmer
> Anecdotal reports have it that, in the early months of the war, there
> were (at least) two recorded circumstances in which Japanese submarines
> (type unknown - variously "mini" or "fleet type"), surfaced and fired
> onshore on targets in both Santa Barbara and Crescent City, California.
> Anybody point the way on clarifying this one ?
The following is from a book called "Month of Infamy December 7th 1941"
published by Venture Publication. Basically what is,is, copes of all the
local Southern California Newspapers front pages for the month of December
1941 plus a few from around the country and some up into 1942-1944. Here
goes as to sinkings and attacks by Japanese Submarines off the West Coast:
>From the LA Times 12-22 1941
Headline
22 lost in Sub raid off Cal.
Summary of article
The Navy reported tonight that there were indications of enemy submarine
activity off the East Coast as well as off the West Coast where it said that
enemy submarines had attacked the steamships Agwiworld and Emidio The Emidio
sank
>From the LA Times 12-23 1941
Headline
"Japs attack off Cal. again"
Summary
Japanese submarines today struck at three more ships along the California
Coast, sank one Los Angeles Harbor tanker, shelled another, and reportedly
sank or damaged a Canadian freighter over due.
"Rescued crew says sub fired on Lifeboats"
The Decater Daily Review
Summary
Tanker sunk off California in Sub attack
The tanker "Larry Doheny" was sunk six miles off Estro Bay
"It was the seventh attack in near by Pacific water since opening the
Pacific"
>From the Tribune-Sun(San Diego)
12-24-41
The tanker SS Absaroka was torpedoed. A crowd of onlookers watched from
shore, the Navy may have sunk the Sub she did make it back to port. There
are picture of her with decks awash.
>From the LA Herald Express
12-22-41
Oiltanker shelled 2 miles off shore 30 miles northwest of Santa Barbara 110
miles from LA. The ship was the Standard oil tanker H.M.Storey The attack on
the Storey was the 4th by a submarine on United States shipping off the
California Coast since 2:10pm Saturday(Dec 20)
and the list goes on
Hope that helps
Jim Carew
BobG
>Annecdotal reports have it that, in the early months of the war, there
>were (at least) two recorded circumstances in which Japanese submanines
>(type unknown - variously "mini" or "fleet type"), surfaced and fired
>onshore on targets in both Santa Barbara and Crescent City, California.
>Anybody point the way on clarifiying this one ?
I've read of Japanese using a submarine that carried a small aircraft.
They surfaced off the Oregon coast, and launched the airplane which
dropped incendiaries into the wooded area trying to start a forest
fire. It didn't work because the ground was not dry enough.
BobG
Evolution is a fact. The theory of evolution explains the fact of evolution.
Doug Porter
Manchester (Field Marshall MacArthur's biog) is a story that, whilst deeply
engaged in the siege of Corregidor, a news message arrived telling of a
Japanese submarine having "shelled Santa Barbara". MacA. is reported to
have said: "I think I'll send a wire to the California commander and tell
him if he can hold out for thirty more days I'll be able to send him help."
Dougal in England
--
from:
Doug Porter (Editor FOLK ON! Magazine etc)
269 Birchover Way
Allestree
Derby DE22 2RS, UK (0)1332 556705 (and fax, by arrangement)
web page: www.dougporter.freeserve.co.uk
New email: <d...@freeuk.com> was: <dou...@dougporter.freeserve.co.uk>
PLEASE HELP by clearly identifying this message and your goodselves in any
response. Thank you.
John <jbro...@pacific.net> wrote in message
news:7gi1ba$qda$1...@nntp6.u.washington.edu...
> Annecdotal reports have it that, in the early months of the war, there
> were (at least) two recorded circumstances in which Japanese submanines
> (type unknown - variously "mini" or "fleet type"), surfaced and fired
> onshore on targets in both Santa Barbara and Crescent City, California.
> Anybody point the way on clarifiying this one ?
>
> Thanks, John Brookes
>
Tim Watkins
> Actually as I recall it was the Standard Oil Refinery at Goleta
> California which is north of Santa Barbara. ...historical program
> called "California Gold"...
I also saw that program by Huell Hauser, it was well done. I don't
recall which refinery he stated that was up there; I have two sources
that state the refinery was either the Bankline Refinery or Richfield's
Elwood Field Refinery, but small point. During the shelling, one oil
well was damaged. The Civilian Defense control center in San Francisco's
City Hall was activated when the news arrived from Goleta of the
submarine attack. By the time the U.S. Army and Coast Guard showed up,
the sub had departed the area.
> ...It seems one of the shells (5.5) the I-17 fired was a dud, and it
> landed near the ranch house of one of the local ranchers. He called
> the Army and they came in, defused it, and took it away for the
> duration. After the war they returned it to him and since then he has
> kept it as a conversation piece on his front porch.
Interestingly enough, I thought it was amazing that the U.S. Navy gave
that shell back to the residents after it was sent back to the U.S. Naval
Weapons Facility in Washington, DC for evaluation and testing. How many
5.5 inch Japanese naval shells do you find laying on your front lawn?
Quite a conversation piece!
Another sidebar to that story: as it was about 7 PM when the shelling
began, folks were eating in a small diner near the oil field. The
patrons had their meals interrupted by loud sounds in the area. Alarmed,
somebody called the local Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office, and
deputies responded to check out the source of the loud noises. Surprised
deputies quickly learned that .38 caliber revolvers are largely
ineffective against incoming 5.5 inch naval rounds and beat a hasty
retreat from the area!
Tim Watkins
"Flying is the second greatest thrill known to man - landing is the
first."
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incindiary bombs that were released into the jet stream from Japan.
Only a few ever reached the U.S. and the fires they started burned
themselves out quickly. Only one of the balloons caused any American
casualties, that being a woman and, I believe, 5 children who were on a
camping trip at the time.
PDC Sensha
incindiary bombs that were released into the jet stream from Japan.>>
Nope. You've got your "stupid Japanese weapons systems" mixed up here. The
bombings from the I-boat were done in two separate missions, both within days
of each other, and were a one time attempt in 1942. The extremely light
floatplane used for the raids (codenamed "Glen" by Allied forces) precluded any
significant bombload, and the results were considerably less effective than,
say, the Allied bombing of Dresden.
The balloon bomb campaign involved thousands of hydrogen balloon suspended bomb
"chandeliers" (that's what they looked like, a bunch of bags and bombs
suspended from an aluminum framework) launched from Japan proper during the
late war period. An Imperial Army project, they were designed in complete
secrecy, with a 10% hit rate projected from the very start.
The "bombs" incorporated a barometric height regulator that dropped ballast
bags so as to keep the weapon suspended in the "jet stream", which carried them
from Japan to points over the North American land mass. There, a powder train
timing system set the final actions of bomb dropping and balloon destruction in
action.
The "bombs" were mostly constructed out of non-strategic materials like paper
and sand, with limited amounts of aluminum for the framework and the
pyrotechnics. Of course, in 1944 Japan, even paper was pretty scarce, and
there are stories of the workers assembling the balloons having eaten the paste
used to glue up the paper.
This scatter gun approach of aiming and firing that was mandated by relying
upon the jet stream as a guidance means resulted in impacts all over the
western two thirds of the United States and Canada and (I think) Mexico. Some
reached as far east as Michigan, and as far south as northern Texas. This has
to be the most widespread impact zone of any weapon ever deployed. However,
for the time and place (and level of Japanese scientific achievement), the
balloon bomb was a clever design.
What would have made it a much more effective weapon would have been to dump
anthrax instead of a piddling fire bomb load. Although this was never done,
there were proposals (by Admiral Toyoda, according to the Warners in their book
on Kamakazes) that the Seiran bombers (carried by the much larger I-400 class
of submarines) be used to place biological weapons on American cities. Pretty
nasty, but a better use of resources from the Japanese standpoint, to be sure.
Luckly, cooler heads in the Japanese command structure (according to the
Warners, members of the Imperial Army general staff (!!!)) decided that the
Japanese were not going to open Pandora's biological box.
Finally, in the latest book of essays by John McKee, there is an extended
discussion of forensic geology, in which the balloon bomb "mystery" plays a
major part. McKee takes you through how US high command tracked the launch
area to places near several beaches in northern Japan, based upon an analysis
of the ballast sand used by the Japanese. Unfortunately, the alleged success
of an Allied bombing effort to stop the balloon bombs is not quite the reason
that the campaign was stopped, but it makes a good story, as my grandmother
would have said.
Terry L. Stibal
pdcs...@aol.com
casita
>incindiary bombs that were released into the jet stream from Japan.
As silly as they sound, they were considered a serious threat. They could
also have been used for germ warfare. The US and Canada played it cool,
and the Japanese eventually gave up.
Mainland USA was also aerial bombed by the Japanese.
MakinKid
>enemy submarines had attacked the steamships Agwiworld and Emidio The Emidio
>sank
No it didn't. The crew abandoned it and it sailed unmanned into Crescent City
harbor, where it grounded. It sat there until some years after the war, when
it was cut up for scrap. A memorial to the ship is at the Crescent City
Seaside Park.
Makin
MakinKid
>
>> Actually as I recall it was the Standard Oil Refinery at Goleta
>> California which is north of Santa Barbara. ...historical program
>> called "California Gold"...
Clark (1964) contains a detailed description of this attack, and Boyd and
Yoshida (1995) discuss it in the context of overall Japanese submarine
operations. The submarine was the I-17.
Contemporary newspaper accounts describe the attack as off the Ellwood oil
fields 12 miles north of Santa Barbara, and report 16 shells fired, beginning
at 7:15 p.m. on the 24th of Feb. 1942. Three shells struck near the Bankline
Co. oil refinery, the apparent target of the shelling. Rigging and pumping
equipment at a well about 1,000 yards inland were destroyed but otherwise no
damage was caused. One shell overshot the target by three miles and landed on
the Tecolote ranch, where it exploded. Another landed on the nearby Staniff
ranch, dug a hole five feet deep, but failed to explode. Eleven other shells
fell short and dropped into the sea.
Description of the attack and damage to the oil refinery was provided by the
superindentent, F.W. Borden.
The first report of the attack was called in to police by Mrs. George Heaney of
San Marcos Pass, who observed the submarine through binoculars and reported it
was about a mile offshore. Oil refinery worker Bob Miller also called in a
report during the attack. According to the official report of the 11th Naval
District, the I-17 surfaced at 7:10 pm, Pacific War Time (2 hours ahead of
standard time, so about a half hour after sunset), shortly after Pres.
Roosevelt's weekly fireside "chat" began. At 7:15 pm, the submarine began
firing from its deck gun at the oil refinery. It ceased firing at 7:35 and
departed on the surface; it was observed still on the suface exiting the south
end of the Santa Barbara Channel at 8:30.
The Ventura County Sheriff's Department arrested four Japanese and one Italian
who were reported to have been signalling the submarine and marking the
location of the oil refinery, which is on a section of coast essentially devoid
of landmarks (all low sandhills).
During the fireside chat Pres. Roosevelt gave during the attack, he said,
"We--not they--will win the final battles. We--not they--will make the final
peace." Certainly this must have been a very inspiring speech at such a dark
time in American history.
Makin
Doug Porter
entire coast got a Campaign Medal becasaue of the shelling. Is there any
truth in this or is it *another* US-bashing fib?
Doug Porter,
--
from:
Doug Porter (Editor FOLK ON! Magazine etc)
269 Birchover Way
Allestree
Derby DE22 2RS, UK (0)1332 556705 (and fax, by arrangement)
web page: www.dougporter.freeserve.co.uk
New email: <d...@freeuk.com> was: <dou...@dougporter.freeserve.co.uk>
John
>
> I also understand that any US serviceman stationed anywhere along that
> entire coast got a Campaign Medal becasaue of the shelling. Is there any
> truth in this or is it *another* US-bashing fib?
>
> Doug Porter (Editor FOLK ON! Magazine etc)
> 269 Birchover Way
> Allestree
> Derby DE22 2RS, UK
Doug,
Arguably, military awards/decorations for 'not very much' have
proliferated in the US Armed forces, particularly since the Korean War,
but the rumor that US servicemen along the west coast got anything of
the sort from the Japanese I-17's shelling of Santa Barbara is pure
rubbish.
J.A.H. Brookes
Captain, US Navy (ret)
Jeff Joyce
service in the US Armed Forces within the American Theater of Operations
from 07 Dec 1941 to 02 Mar 1946. One bronze service star could be worn for
each campaign:
Antisubmarine -- 7 Dec 1941-2 Sep 1945
Ground Combat -- 7 Dec 1941-2 Sep 1945
Air Combat -- 7 Dec 1941-2 Sep 1945
Jeff J.
Doug Porter wrote in message <7h1ki9$j...@dgs.dgsys.com>...
Othmer
> Othmer wrote:
The following is from a book called "Month of Infamy December 7th 1941"
published by Venture Publication. Basically which is made up of copes of all
the local Southern California Newspapers front pages for the month of
December 1941 plus some from Eastern newspapers etc:. So all I can say is
that I only know what I read in the papers:
Page 73
>From the front page of the "Los Angeles Evening Herald and Express" December
22 1941
"Targets of Axis Sub attack off Calif
Then a picture of the U.S. tanker Emidio
With the caption "A huge naval hunt for Axis submarines was launched by
American ships following the torpedoing and _sinking_ of the U. S. tanker
Emidio, above, 200 miles north of San Francisco. Five of the Emido crew are
missing"
They also have a crude map with an "X" and the caption "Japs sink tanker
Emido 20 miles off Blunts Reef"
"A Japanese submarine that torpedoed the United States tanker Emido also
shelled the Emido,s crew as they struggled to pull away in open lifeboats,
survivors charged today.............."
Then a picture of the Agwiworld
Apparently the LA Evening Herald and Express was wrong in its reporting so
I,ll stand corrected Thanks
Jim Carew
casita
final
>peace."
He was inspirational. I am sure many were deeply saddened when he suddenly
passed away.
I liked his "fear itself" speech. He battled a disability, which I think,
gave him courage.
I think LBJ once called FDR the bravest man he ever met.
He came up to Canada and called it "The Areodrome of Democracy".
MakinKid
>So all I can say is
>that I only know what I read in the papers:
The Emidio incident is a well-known story. The details:
The SS Emidio, owned by General Petroleum, was sailing southbound passing in
sightof theBlunt's Reef Lightship off Cape Mendocino, Humboldt County at 1:10
p.m. Dec 20, 1941, PWT when a submarine surfaced a quarter mile away. C.A.
Farrow, captain of the Emidio, began zig-zagging at full speed in an attempt to
evade the submarine, the I-17, the same one that would later bombard the Santa
Barbara-area oil field. At 1:40 pm, the submarine opened fire with its deck
gun. The first round went over. The second struck the radio shack, knocking
out the radio. But wireless operator W.S. Foote had already sent out an SOS.
At 2:10 pm Capt. Farrow ordered Stop Engines and Prepare to Abandon Ship. As
the crew lowered a lifeboat, a shell struck a davit and the lifeboat dropped
down, killing three crewmenand spilling their bodies into the sea. At this
point two American patrol planes appeared and attacked the submarine, which
submerged and then fired one torpedo into the Emidio. The torpedo penetrated
the ship's boiler room, flew across the breadth of the ship, struck the
opposite bulkhead and exploded, killing Third Asst Ben. Winters and Fireman Ken
Kimes. The order to Abandon Ship was given and the remaining crew left the
ship in two lifeboats. They rowed for 13 hours before reaching the Lightship.
The Emidio did not sink. Crewless and with a gaping hole in her side she
sailed north for four days. On Christmas Eve just at sunset, she entered
Crescent City Harbor, 100 miles north of Cape Mendocino and grounded on
Steamboat Rock at the entrance to the anchorage. The ship remained lodged
there until Jan 14, when she drifted loose and entered the harbor. Attempts
were made to secure the ship but the small fishing village had no equipment
with which to handle an oil tanker. The ship drifted out of the harbor on its
own and lodged on Fauntleroy Rock, where she remained until 1950 when a salvage
company dismantled the ship. A memorial was erected to the five dead crewmen
in Beachfront Park. This includes a section of the bow.
Accounts of this incident appear in many publications. The details here come
from the briefing material the National Park Service provides its personnel
(Redwood National Park is near Crescent City). Further details may be found in
Williams (1953) The History of Del Norte County.
Makin