US Comes Under Attack

From the Feb. 24th Daily Sound (Ca.) "Sign remembers 1942 beach attack near Elwood Mesa" by Nick C. Tonkin.

This anniversary largely passed by with little note from the press. I was happy to come across this article. I knew that at one point a Japanese submarine had shelled the US mainland, but not when.

This event and the "Battle of Los Angeles" the next day served as the basis for that hilarious John Belushi movie "1941." Well, I liked it anyway.

On February 23, 1942, seventy years ago, the Richfield Oil Field near Ellwood Mesa became the site of the first foreign attack on US soil since the War of 1812. This area is by Santa Barbara, California.

The Goleta Valley Historical Society is commemorating the event with an exhibit and the placement of a new sign at the site, which is next to what is now the Bacara Resort.

It was 7 PM and President Roosevelt was on the radio giving one of his Fireside Chats, when the Japanese submarine I-17 surfaced and began shelling the US mainland, firing around 25 shells from its 5-inch deck gun. They destroyed the rigging and pumping equipment at a well 1,000 yards inland. A few of the shells overshot and hit farmland.

The I-17 was one of Japan's most advanced submarine and was part of a sub pack bringing the war to America's front door on the West Coast as they had been attacking US merchant ships for several months. It was about the length of a football field.

Minimal damage was done to the oil field, but it did provide reasons for the earlier internment decision for Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast.

One of the shells missed the oil field and flew over Wheeler's Inn, whose owner contacted the local police.

Just imagine if something like that happened today. The price of gas would immediately zoom up as speculators would be trying to make money.

I'll Have to Do an Entry on the "Battle of Los Angeles." --GreGen