Bombardment of Fort Stevens

Bombardment of Fort Stevens
Part of World War II Pacific War
I-25
Date June 21, 1942 Location Fort Stevens, Oregon, Pacific Ocean Result Indecisive
Belligerents
United States	Empire of Japan
Commanders
unknown	Tagami Meiji
Strength
1 B-17 bomber, Fort Stevens	I-25
Casualties and losses
no human casualties, communications cables destroyed	none

The Bombardment of Fort Stevens was an engagement during early months of the Pacific War. The action was commenced by an Imperial Japanese submarine against the United States military installation; Fort Stevens, protecting the Oregon side of the Columbia River's Pacific entrance.

Bombardment

The Japanese submarine I-25, under the command of a Tagami Meiji was on a typical submarine mission. Destroying enemy shipping and engaging the enemy on land if and when possible, using I-25's 5.5 (140 mm) inch deck gun. She also carried a Yokosuka E14Y seaplane and a crew of 94 men, including the commander. On June 21, 1942, I-25 was steaming in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, along the North American coast, following allied fishing boats to avoid the several mine fields in the area.

Late at night on June 21, 1942, Commander Meiji ordered his crew to surface his submarine at the mouth of the Columbia River. In sight was the old Fort Stevens, built during the American Civil War, with two 10 inch disappearing guns as her best weapons. Several other defense measures were also available.

Fort Stevens

8 inch disappearing guns, similar to Fort Stevens' battery.

Tagami Meiji ordered a few members of his crew to take up I-25's deck gun and open fire on the American guns named "Battery Russell". The first shots were not very effective, possibly due to I-25's gunners or because the commander at Fort Stevens ordered his gunners not to fire back and to turn out all of the lights.

This was done in order to deny the Japanese valuable illumination which could be exploited to make a better-aimed shot at the American fortification. Most of the shells hit a nearby baseball field and a swamp, one of them landed near "Battery Russel" and one near a concrete pillbox. One shell also managed to hit several large telephone cables, resulting in the most significant loss sustained by the Americans that night. A total of seventeen 5.5 inch shots were fired by the Japanese sailors.

American aircraft, nearby on a training mission, spotted the Japanese sub and called in a bomber to attack. The U.S. warplane dropped its ordnance but I-25 maneuvered and dodged the bombs before slipping beneath the waterline unmolested.

B-17 Flying Fortress

Aftermath

The Japanese submarine got away and no lives were lost during the bombardment and the American counter attack. This event helped fuel the 1942 West Coast invasion scare. The next day on beaches near the fort, rolls of barbed wire were strung from Point Adams southward to hamper invasion. The sunken SS Peter Iredale was in the line of fire, which was entwined in the wire and remained that way until the end of the war. The engagement also marks the only time during World War II in which a continental United States military position was attacked by the Axis Powers.

The wreck of the Peter Iredale at sunset

See also

• Bombardment of Madras
• Bombardment of Orleans
• German attacks on Nauru
• Attacks on United States territory in North America during World War II

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Fort Stevens (Oregon)

• Fort Stevens State Park, official website from Oregon Parks and Recreation Department