Video: 'California Attacked: The Shelling of Ellwood Beach - Decades TV Network'

(Monday, February 23, 1942, approximately 7:15 p.m. PWT; during the Bombardment of Ellwood in the American Theater of World War II) — The first shelling of the U.S. mainland during World War II occurred today as Japanese submarine I-17 surfaced off the coast of California and fired 25 shells at an oil refinery near Santa Barbara.

Though damage was minimal, the event was key in triggering the West Coast invasion scare and influenced the decision to intern Japanese-Americans.

The attack was the first naval bombardment of the United States by a foreign power since the War of 1812 (Battle of Baltimore of 1814 by British Royal Navy), excluding the incidental shelling of coastland Orleans, Massachusetts in 1918.