Japanese WWII Attack on Santa Barbara

A consequential visit by a foreigner occurred in the late 1930s. Kozo Nishino, the skipper of a Japanese oil tanker, visited the field to load up with oil. While walking with his crew to a formal welcoming ceremony onshore, he tripped and fell into a patch of prickly pear cactus (now below Fairway 11 of the Sandpiper Golf Course); the sight of the proud Japanese commander having cactus spines pulled from his buttocks provoked the laughter of a group of nearby oil workers.

Kozo came back a few years later, possibly for revenge. During the Second World War, now captain of Japanese submarine I-17, he surfaced just off of Coal Oil Point on the evening of February 23, 1942, with his crew emerging to man the 5.5" deck gun of the sub. They fired between 16 and 25 rounds at a pair of oil storage tanks near the exact location where he had fallen into the cactus patch. His gunners were wretched shots, and most of the shells went wild, exploding either miles inland on Tecolote Ranch or splashing in the water; one of the explosions damaged well Luton-Bell 17, on the beach just below Fairway 14 of the present-day golf course, causing about $500 in damage to a catwalk and some pumping equipment. Kozo radioed Tokyo that he had "left Santa Barbara in flames." This incident was the first direct attack by an enemy power on the U.S. mainland since the War of 1812.

While peak production from the Ellwood field was in 1930, it continued to be productive through the 1960s; the onshore portion was abandoned in 1972.

Today the site of the oilfield equipment damaged by the Japanese is now Santa Barbara County property, which may be traversed by the public, on the beach below the Sandpiper Golf Course. A historical marker has been posted on a rock on the Golf Course grounds briefly recounting the history of the incident.

Afterwards, an entrepreneur bought the timbers from the damaged pier and used them to construct a restaurant called "The Timbers" on U.S. Highway 101 near Goleta.

The attack site is next to the Bacara Resort Hotel at 8301 Hollister Ave. The sign is located at the public beach access. Park in the public parking lot, then hike a short distance to the beach.