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SINCE YOU ASKED Since You Asked: Japanese sub made history in Oregon attack Comment MailTribune.com Writer Posted Aug. 21, 2015 at 12:01 AM Posted Aug. 21, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News A "Did you know?" item that appeared in the Aug. 12 Mail Tribune gave a few details about a Japanese submarine shelling Fort Stevens near the mouth of the Columbia River. This is fascinating! As a World War II vet, I thought I knew my history. Please tell us more. — Bill K., Medford Happy to help out a vet, Bill. The shelling occurred on June 21, 1942, and came from a Japanese I-class submarine designated as I-25. According to historical archives kept by the Oregon Secretary of State's Office, the shelling was part of a Japanese response to the April 1942 bombing attack on Japan by 16 U.S. bombers in the famed Doolittle Raid. Miffed at this incursion, the Japanese ordered submarines to raid shipping off the American coastline. According to the archives: "As part of this the Japanese high command ordered submarines I-25 and I-26 to the Pacific Northwest to find and attack naval vessels headed to Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. On June 20, 1942, I-26 shelled the lighthouse at Estevan Point on Vancouver Island and I-25 torpedoed and shelled the freighter S.S. Fort Camosun off Cape Flattery. The freighter did not sink and rescuers towed it to safety in Neah Bay. The next evening I-25 came in close to the coast through a fishing fleet to avoid minefields off the Columbia River and took position near Fort Stevens. The crew then fired its 5.5 inch deck gun at the shore." Japanese Commander Meiji Tagami later said he thought he was firing at a submarine base. The submarine fired 17 shells, but caused no significant damage, leaving craters in the beach and marshland near the fort. But, the archives note, "... the attack certainly raised awareness of the threat of future strikes and went into the history books as the only hostile shelling of a military base on the U.S. mainland during World War II and the first since the War of 1812." The gun batteries in the fort did not fire back, with the fort's commander later saying that he did not want to give away the precise location of the defenses to the enemy. The I-25 submarine re-emerges in Oregon's history, in September 1942, when a Japanese seaplane catapulted off the deck of the sub dropped a bomb near Mount Emily, 16 miles east of Brookings. That and a subsequent similar bombing at the end of that month were unsuccessful attempts to start forest fires. You can read more on this online at http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/pages/exhibits/ww2/threat/bombs.htm . Send questions to “Since You Asked,” Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by email to [email protected]. To see a collection of columns, go to mailtribune.com/youasked . We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them. MailTribune.com Writer Posted Aug. 21, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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