
California in World War II: The Shelling of Ellwood - TheLarch
http://www.militarymuseum.org/Ellwood.html
======
matt_wulfeck
> Workers on a nearby oil rig broke into guffaws at the sight of the proud
> commander having cactus spines plucked from his posterior. Then and there,
> the humiliated Nishino swore to get even.

Sounds like the damage was trivial, perhaps akin to plucking cactus spines
from your rear end. I guess the commander "got even" in a very true sense.

~~~
Pinatubo
This sounds like an urban legend designed to humiliate an enemy. Japanese
records give a different reason for the attack:

>>"An ad hoc pow-wow is convened in officers' quarters to choose a suitable
target, using a list of West Coast locations drafted prior to the aborted
Christmas Eve shelling last year. The waterfront of San Francisco and the town
of Castroville are among the rejected objectives. Lt Yamazaki Atsuo,
engineering officer of I-17, finally suggests they bombard Ellwood's oilfields
off Santa Barbara. His suggestion is approved, since it provides an easy
access and escape route."<<

[http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-17.htm](http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-17.htm)

Edit: I also found this:

>>"Local legends, according to Hough, maintain that Nashino targeted Goleta
because oil workers mocked him after he allegedly tripped and fell into a
patch of cactuses in front of an off-duty working crew. After this humiliation
and mockery, Nashino, an oil tanker captain at the time, swore revenge.

Hough said he disputes this legend entirely.

“He was a career naval officer and, thus, had never worked as a farmhand in
Goleta,” Ken said. “The story of him being a captain of an oil tanker that
stopped at Ellwood where he came ashore and fell into a cactus patch is not
true. It’s a long told Santa Barbara legend, which may have happened to
someone, but not to Captain Nishino.”"<<

[http://dailynexus.com/2013-02-28/goleta-remembers-oil-
field-...](http://dailynexus.com/2013-02-28/goleta-remembers-oil-field-
shelling-of-1942/)

~~~
BashiBazouk
Why would they want to shell Castroville? Something against artichokes? Was it
a major place for Fort Ord troops in training to hit the bars? I can't find
any WWII era military target there...

~~~
wtracy
The target was the oil fields, and the goal was to deprive the U.S. Navy of
materiel (in this case, fuel).

~~~
BashiBazouk
Hence my question of why Castroville was a possible target. No oil fields,
just lots of artichokes...

------
RubberMullet
When I lived in Santa Barbara 15+ years ago one of the local barbers I went to
claimed that he and a friend, I believe they were eight or nine at the time,
were playing at a secluded section of the beach one day when all of a sudden a
naked Japanese man ran past them. They immediately ran home and told their
parents. Of course no one believed them. A few days later this attack
occurred.

The guy had clippings from all the local newspapers of the event posted on the
mirror by his chair. True or not it made for interesting conversation.

------
briffle
There were 3 seperate Japanese attacks on the US mainland. They were all
pretty ineffective. [http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/5-attacks-on-u-
s-s...](http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/5-attacks-on-u-s-soil-
during-world-war-ii)

~~~
cbfndcbc
What about the Japanese invasion of Alaska? Nearly 1500 Allied soldiers lost
their lives.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleutian_Islands_Campaign](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleutian_Islands_Campaign)

~~~
wtracy
The Aleutian Islands are not part of the North American mainland.

If we were talking about talks on U.S. sovereign soil (is that what you
meant?) we'd have to include Pearl Harbor as well.

Also, this source gives American casualties as 3,929 (!) of which only 549
(!!!) were combat casualties:
[http://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=20](http://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=20)

Friendly fire and Japanese booby traps apparently account for most of the
remainder. The most infamous friendly fire incidents occurred during Operation
Cottage, when the US invaded an island that the Japanese had already abandoned
two weeks earlier:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cottage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cottage)

------
ckozlowski
You can find the full history of the submarine (I-17) as well as lots of other
great information about the Imperial Japanese Navy here:
[http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-17.htm](http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-17.htm)

------
zatkin
More here:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardment_of_Ellwood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardment_of_Ellwood)

------
ilamont
Was this the same incident that was parodied in the Spielberg/Belushi film
_1941_?

~~~
HillaryBriss
Wasn't one of the Blues Brothers named Ellwood?

~~~
sverige
Yes to both.

~~~
ptaipale
Actually, Elwood Blues, not Ellwood; Elwood was named after the Elwood
Ordnance Plant, which made TNT and grenades during World War II.

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Hollierist
What about the Japanese invasion of Alaska? Nearly 1500 Allied soldiers lost
their lives.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleutian_Islands_Campaign](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleutian_Islands_Campaign)

------
Hollierist
You can find the full history of the submarine (I-17) as well as lots of other
great information about the Imperial Japanese Navy here:
[http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-17.htm](http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-17.htm)

------
tenken
Ellwood isn't a city, title seems misleading. The closest city is Goleta, CA.
(I work at UCSB)

