Bombardment of Ellwood The Bombardment of Ellwood during World War II was a naval attack by a Japanese submarine against United States coastal targets near Santa Barbara , California . Though damage was minimal , the event was key in triggering the West Coast invasion scare and influenced the decision to intern Japanese - American s . The event also marked the first shelling of the North American mainland during the conflict . Background . Following the attack on Pearl Harbor , Hawaii , seven Japanese submarines patrolled the American West Coast . They sank several merchant vessels and skirmished twice with U . S . Navy air or sea forces . By the end of December , the submarines had returned to friendly waters to resupply . Many went to Kwajalein and then returned to American waters . Imperial Japanese Navy submarine was one of these vessels . She displaced when submerged and was long . Her armament included six torpedo tube s and 17 torpedo s in total . Up top was a 14 - cm deck gun . " I - 17 " carried 101 officers and crew under Commander Kozo Nishino . Nishino ' s experience included service with the Japanese fleet assigned to Operation Hawaii . Before the war , he commanded a merchant ship which had sailed through the Santa Barbara Channel . Nishino had stopped at the Ellwood Oil Field , where his ship took on oil before returning to Japan . The oil field would be his target during the bombardment . Most of damage he inflicted was located within of where Nishino had visited . Bombardment . About 1900 hours ( 7 : 00 pm ) on 23 February 1942 , " I - 17 " came to a stop off of the Ellwood field . Nishino gave the order to prepare for action . A gun crew quickly took aim at a huge Richfield aviation fuel tank just beyond the beach . Nishino ordered his men to fire at 1915 hours ( 7 : 15 pm ) , their first rounds landing close to one of the storage facilities . Most of the oilers had gone home for the night , but the few remained on duty heard the first rounds impact . They suspected an internal explosion , but a worker spotted " I - 17 " in the dark . An oiler named G . Brown later described the attacker as so big he thought it was a cruiser or destroyer , until he realized only one gun was firing . Nishino changed targets to the second storage tank . Brown and the others immediately called the police , but by this time Nishino ' s men had fired several more rounds . Wild shells landed on a nearby ranch . One round passed over Wheeler ' s Inn , and owner Laurence Wheeler called the Santa Barbara Sheriff ' s department . The deputy told Wheeler that warplanes would arrive shortly , but no planes came . A shell did strike the Ellwood Pier , damaging it slightly . A derrick and pump house were destroyed , while a catwalk was damaged . After 20 minutes , Nishino ordered his men to cease fire . Reverend Arthur Basham observed the submarine from Montecito . He reported that the attacker turned south towards Los Angeles , apparently flashing signal lights to the shore . " I - 17 " continued its voyage , returning to Japan in safety . At least 12 and possibly as many as 25 rounds were fired at the Elwood oil installation . Aftermath . As several people in Santa Barbara reported witnessing " signal lights " , a blackout was ordered until the following morning . Nishino ' s bombardment was reported by news agencies , which caused hundreds to flee . The attack and the hysteria that followed was used as justification for the Federal government ' s internment of Japanese - Americans ( most of them US citizens ) , which began a week later . On the night of 24 February , the mysterious Battle of Los Angeles took place , in which coastal defenses responded with hours of anti - aircraft bombardment to reports of the sighting of " enemy aircraft " . Japanese submarines assigned to duty off North America continued to operate against allied shipping . They also conducted the bombardment of Fort Stevens on the Columbia River , and attacked a Canadian lighthouse on Vancouver Island . Despite orders to attack war ships whenever possible , the submarines targeted only merchant vessels and conducted minor bombardments of shore targets . Two air raids were launched from a submarine , in a failed attempt to start a forest fire in southwest Oregon .