The December 7, 1941, attack by Japan on America’s Pearl Harbor threw the entire country into a war frenzy and it led to the U.S. declaring war on Japan and Germany. The effects of the Japanese attack were especially felt on the West Coast, from Washington to California. Reports of sighting of Japanese vessels became as commonplace as reports of UFO sightings.
On February 1942, Californian’s worst fears were realized when the Imperial Japanese Navy's submarine I-17, under the command of Commander Nishino Kozo, surfaced and shelled the ellwood oil refinery near Santa Barbara. Before the war, as skipper of an oil tanker, Nishino had refueled there. The shelling did only minor damage to a pier and to an oil well derrick. The attack, however, managed to fuel "invasion" fears along the West Coast.
Contemporary newspaper accounts reported the attack on the Ellwood oil fields, approximately 12 miles north of Santa Barbara. The papers reported that 16 shells fired, beginning at 7:15 p.m. on February 23, 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.
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 President Roosevelt's weekly fireside "chat" began. At 7:15 pm, the submarine began firing from its deck gun at the oil refinery and ceased firing at 7:35 p.m. At 8:30 p.m. it was observed, still on the surface, exiting the south end of the Santa Barbara Channel.
The attack threw the entire West Coast into a state of heightened alert. After the attack American coastal defenses were improved. The mainland suffered only one more submarine attack by the Japanese during the war, at Fort Stevens in Oregon.
I ride my bike along the trails around Emma Wood Beach, in Ventura County. On a recent ride I got off the trail and walked my bike on the sand across the mouth of the Ventura River. It was low tide and the mouth was passable on foot. While heading North (technically West at that point) I came across what looked like some strange, round rock structures. The structures were too round to have been the work of Nature. I did not have my camera with me (a rare event because I almost always have my camera with me when I go bike riding) so I was not able to photographs these unusual structures.
When I returned home, I did a little research and this is what I found:
Immediately after the Japanese attack on the Ellwood oil fields, the 2nd Battalion of the 144th Field Artillery (California National Guard) was rushed from Fort McArthur near Los Angeles to set up artillery batteries along the Santa Barbara coast. One such battery was established near the mouth of the Ventura River where two 155 mm cannons were hastily set up on the beach. Fearing another attack on oil production targets, the National Guard chose this location because Ventura’s rich oil fields were located just up the Ventura River. In what had been a nearby city park, soldiers set up a small tent camp in the camouflage and shelter of a grove of cypress trees. They positioned a mobile searchlight to illuminate targets at sea, and prepared for the worst.
These two photographs, which I took in an earlier outing, show what is left of the road leading to the gun battery's location. Due to the constant pounding of the surf, the road is almost gone now. Portions of the seawall, however, can still be seen.
Here is a map of the area. The gun batteries are to the West of the Ventura River. (Click on the image for a full-sized map.
These are photographs of the railroad bridge that crosses the Ventura River. The bridge can be seen on the map above. The line marked "levee" is where part of the bike trail runs. The gun battery is located near the surf, to the right of the first photograph.
I plan to return and take photographs of this historical site. In the meantime here are some photographs of the location taken by Ventura photographer Don. You can see Don’s entire photo gallery at Don’s Guns of Ventura Gallery
As a footnote, the Japanese attack on the Ellwood Oil Fields was immortalized (or lampooned) in Steven Spielberg’s ”1941” a comedy featuring comic talents Dan Akroyd and John Belushi, as well as Japanese super star Toshiro Mifune. In the movie, panic grips California following the attack on Pearl Harbor and people are suffering from war nerves. An Army Air Corps Captain, a civilian with a deranged sense of nationalism, civilian defenders, and a motor pool crew all end up on the trail of a lost Japanese submarine that has picked Hollywood as its own target.
In one of the movie’s funniest exchange, two Japanese submariners have stolen a large radio from an American beach home. As they both struggle to get the large radio down the submarine’s hatch, one of the Japanese sailors, named Mr. Sony, looks at the other sailor and exclaims:
“When we get back to Japan, I must find a way to make these (the radio) smaller!”
Ventura's beaches are not just a place for abandoned gun batteries. Our beaches are also a place for weddings, for lady bugs and even for squirrels.
Enjoy!
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