# Before 9/11, when was the last time we were attacked 'on American soil'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 8, 2008, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-9-11-when-was-the-last-time-we-were-attacked-on-american-soil/462699 "2008-09-08T23:30:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-9-11-when-was-the-last-time-we-were-attacked-on-american-soil/462699/21 "2008-09-09T17:42:18Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Pearl Harbor is definitely out of the running. There were a couple of Japanese attacks on Washington State during the war. They hardly accomplished anything, which is why nobody remembers them, but they were unquestionably war attacks, unquestionably on American soil, and unquestionably later than the Pearl Harbor attack. > > Anything after WWII, of course, you have to start quibbling about definitions. Oregon, not Washington. Also, there was a brief shelling attack in California. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attacks_on_North_America_during_World_War_II#Japanese_assaults) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-9-11-when-was-the-last-time-we-were-attacked-on-american-soil/462699/22 "2008-09-09T17:43:28Z")
The Japanese shelled an oil refinery in Ellwood, California in 1942. That’s more impressive than the balloon bombs and the attacks on the territories of alaska and Hawaii: [http://www.militarymuseum.org/Ellwood.html](http://www.militarymuseum.org/Ellwood.html) AFAIK, that’s the most recent wartime attack on the US mainland. There were lots of German U-boats within easy sight of the Eastern shore during WWII, as well. They _could_ have made attacks, if they’d wanted, but as far as I know, none did. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-9-11-when-was-the-last-time-we-were-attacked-on-american-soil/462699/23 "2008-09-09T18:00:19Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > There were lots of German U-boats within easy sight of the Eastern shore during WWII, as well. They _could_ have made attacks, if they’d wanted, but as far as I know, none did. They did land saboteurs. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-9-11-when-was-the-last-time-we-were-attacked-on-american-soil/462699/24 "2008-09-09T18:04:39Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The Japanese shelled an oil refinery in Ellwood, California in 1942. That’s more impressive than the balloon bombs and the attacks on the territories of alaska and Hawaii: > > [California in World War II: The Shelling of Ellwood](http://www.militarymuseum.org/Ellwood.html) > AFAIK, that’s the most recent wartime attack on the US mainland. > > There were lots of German U-boats within easy sight of the Eastern shore during WWII, as well. They _could_ have made attacks, if they’d wanted, but as far as I know, none did. The water boundary should count as American soil and plenty of ships were sunk within sight of land. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-9-11-when-was-the-last-time-we-were-attacked-on-american-soil/462699/25 "2008-09-09T19:32:24Z")
> [@mks57](#): > > They did land saboteurs. And a [weather station](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_Station_Kurt). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-9-11-when-was-the-last-time-we-were-attacked-on-american-soil/462699/26 "2008-09-09T21:50:58Z")
> [@](#): > > AFAIK, the only attacks against Washington state during WWII were the balloon bombs others have mentioned. One hit a power line and took out power to the reactor at the Hanford Reservation. Fortunately, the reactor had a backup power supply. > > You’re probably thinking of several attacks against the mainland by Japanese subs. A refinery in California was shelled, as was Fort Stevens at the mouth of the Columbia on the Oregon side. A sub also launched a float plane that dropped a couple of incendiary bombs in the forest near Brookings, Oregon. The forest was rather damp at the time so the bombs did not cause a forest fire. I believe all these attacks occured in 1942. I think I was conflating all of those. Any of them should count for purposes of the OP’s question, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-9-11-when-was-the-last-time-we-were-attacked-on-american-soil/462699.md?page=1)