# How many US states suffered attacks during WW2 **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 22, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-states-suffered-attacks-during-ww2/755377 "2016-05-22T17:26:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-states-suffered-attacks-during-ww2/755377/1 "2016-05-22T17:26:00Z")
I know of two. Hawaii, which was the site of Pearl Harbor. Maine, where the USS Eagle was sunk by a German U-boat. Were any other states directly attacked during WW2? ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-states-suffered-attacks-during-ww2/755377/2 "2016-05-22T17:39:56Z")
The Japanese [firebombed a forest area in Oregon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lookout_Air_Raids) in a failed attempt to start a massive out-of-control fire. The damage actually done was minor and no one died. Just to be pedantic, I feel I should point out that Hawaii was a US territory at the time of WWII, not a state. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-states-suffered-attacks-during-ww2/755377/3 "2016-05-22T17:41:44Z")
Yes. A number of states suffered inconsequential damage due to Japanese [Fire Balloons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_balloon). Six people were killed in Oregon by one. ETA: Missed it by _that_ much! ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-states-suffered-attacks-during-ww2/755377/4 "2016-05-22T17:45:55Z")
Alaska was not yet a state at the time, but a couple of the Aleutian Islands (Attu and Kiska) were occupied by Japanese forces. ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-states-suffered-attacks-during-ww2/755377/5 "2016-05-22T17:47:38Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > ETA: Missed it by _that_ much! We’re talking about two different things. The Brookings firebombing was a piloted attack, while the fire balloons were unmanned and sent out blindly. I’d forgotten about them. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-states-suffered-attacks-during-ww2/755377/6 "2016-05-22T17:50:01Z")
Alaska wasn’t a state at the time but it was a U.S. territory, so I don’t know if you want to count it or not. The Japanese held a couple of the Aleutian Islands for a while during 1942 and 1943. In 1942, a Japanese sub attacked the Ellwood Oil Field in California. It cause a lot more panic than it did actual damage. Shortly after that, the panic resulted in the “Battle of Los Angeles” in which a bunch of artillery shells and anti-aircraft guns were fired at, well, actually probably nothing. Also in 1942, another Japanese sub attacked Fort Stevens in Oregon. They destroyed a basketball hoop and took out some phone lines but otherwise did little damage. A Japanese bomber launched from a submarine aircraft carrier also bombed Oregon in 1942, attempting to start large-scale forest fires. It was not successful. A second bombing raid on Oregon was similarly unsuccessful in starting any major forest fires. Late in the war, the Japanese attached bombs to balloons and floated them over the ocean, with timers that would release the bombs over the U.S. Obviously, since the timers had no way of knowing what the actual wind conditions were, this wasn’t exactly precision bombing. The Japanese were certain that this would kill thousands and would lead to wildfires destroying huge swaths of American land. One family in Oregon was killed when they found one of the bombs and took a closer look. Most of the bombs are thought to have exploded harmlessly somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, but there could still be some unexploded bombs out there somewhere. [QUOTE=wikipedia] Japan released the first of these bomb-bearing balloons on November 3, 1944. They were found in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Michigan[4] and Iowa, as well as Mexico and Canada. [/QUOTE] > **[Incendiary balloon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_balloon)** > > An incendiary balloon (or balloon bomb) is a balloon inflated with a lighter-than-air gas such as hot air, hydrogen, or helium, that has a bomb, incendiary device, or Molotov cocktail attached. The balloon is carried by the prevailing winds to the target area, where it falls or releases its payload. > In 1792, Joseph-Michel Montgolfier suggested using balloons for bombing British forces in Toulon. In 1807, Denmark tried to build a dirigible to bomb British ships blockading Copenhagen. In 1846 a ... A German submarine shelled an oil refinery in the Caribbean in 1942. Again, this was a U.S. territory not a state, so not sure if you want to count it or not. ETA: Ninja’d a bit while I was typing. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-states-suffered-attacks-during-ww2/755377/7 "2016-05-22T17:54:50Z")
[A couple western Alaskan islands were attacked and occupied by a Japanese force in June 1942.](http://www.kuriositas.com/2012/11/the-forgotten-battle-japanese-invasion.html?m=1) They held the territory for more than a year, until finally destroyed by a much larger American force. Oregon was hit by [incendiary weapons, from submarine-launched planes, later in '42](http://www.historynet.com/japanese-bomb-the-continental-u-s-west-coast.htm), and then by [balloon bombs in 1945](http://www.wired.com/2010/05/0505japanese-balloon-kills-oregon/). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-states-suffered-attacks-during-ww2/755377/8 "2016-05-22T17:56:26Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > Maine, where the USS Eagle was sunk by a German U-boat. If you count naval engagements I think there were s[inkings by U-boats along much of the U.S. east and Gulf coasts.](http://www.usmm.org/eastgulf.html#anchor473040) I’m not sure how many were within US territorial waters but there were quite a few off [North Carolina](http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-worldwar/5908) at least. > [@](#): > > On April 14, 1942, the first German U-boat fought by the American navy in U.S. waters was sunk sixteen miles southeast of Nags Head. Within the next couple of months, three more U-boats were sunk along the North Carolina coast: one by a U.S. Army Air Corps bomber, one by a U.S. Coast Guard patrol ship, and one by a U.S. Navy destroyer. North Carolina’s total of four sunken U-boats represents the most of any state. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-states-suffered-attacks-during-ww2/755377/9 "2016-05-22T18:06:21Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Alaska was not yet a state at the time… > [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Alaska wasn’t a state at the time but it was a U.S. territory, so I don’t know if you want to count it or not. Nor was Hawaii, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-states-suffered-attacks-during-ww2/755377/10 "2016-05-22T19:02:52Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > In 1942, a Japanese sub attacked the Ellwood Oil Field in California. It cause a lot more panic than it did actual damage. Shortly after that, the panic resulted in the “Battle of Los Angeles” in which a bunch of artillery shells and anti-aircraft guns were fired at, well, actually probably nothing. Which in turn resulted in [_1941_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1941_(film)). 😃 (I liked it, despite what people say about it.) ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-states-suffered-attacks-during-ww2/755377/11 "2016-05-22T19:22:26Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Nor was Hawaii, of course. Indeed. Other US territories attacked during WW2 include Midway Atoll which was bombed during the Battle of Midway Island, Guam which was occupied by the Japanese in 1941 and retaken with [heavy fighting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Guam_(1944)) during July and August 1944, and Wake Island which was occupied by the Japanese in December 1941 and remained occupied for the duration of the war. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-states-suffered-attacks-during-ww2/755377/12 "2016-05-22T19:41:23Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Alaska wasn’t a state at the time but it was a U.S. territory, so I don’t know if you want to count it or not. The Japanese held a couple of the Aleutian Islands for a while during 1942 and 1943. > > In 1942, a Japanese sub attacked the Ellwood Oil Field in California. It cause a lot more panic than it did actual damage. Shortly after that, the panic resulted in the “Battle of Los Angeles” in which a bunch of artillery shells and anti-aircraft guns were fired at, well, actually probably nothing. > > \*\*Also in 1942, another Japanese sub attacked Fort Stevens in Oregon. They destroyed a basketball hoop and took out some phone lines but otherwise did little damage.\*\*A Japanese bomber launched from a submarine aircraft carrier also bombed Oregon in 1942, attempting to start large-scale forest fires. It was not successful. A second bombing raid on Oregon was similarly unsuccessful in starting any major forest fires. > > Late in the war, the Japanese attached bombs to balloons and floated them over the ocean, with timers that would release the bombs over the U.S. Obviously, since the timers had no way of knowing what the actual wind conditions were, this wasn’t exactly precision bombing. The Japanese were certain that this would kill thousands and would lead to wildfires destroying huge swaths of American land. One family in Oregon was killed when they found one of the bombs and took a closer look. Most of the bombs are thought to have exploded harmlessly somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, but there could still be some unexploded bombs out there somewhere. > > [Incendiary balloon - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_balloon) > > [Fort Stevens State Park - Oregon State Parks](http://oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=parkPage.dsp_parkPage&parkId=129) > A German submarine shelled an oil refinery in the Caribbean in 1942. Again, this was a U.S. territory not a state, so not sure if you want to count it or not. > > ETA: Ninja’d a bit while I was typing. The sub that fired on Fort Stevens had followed local fishing boats to the mouth of the Columbia River, to avoid any sea mine fields. They fired at the coastline to draw fire and expose any fortifications. The fort commander called for a blackout and refused to return fire. Fort Stevens is now a 4300 acre Oregon state park. Great park and campground. I went there this morning and dug a limit of razor clams. > **[Bombardment of Fort Stevens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardment_of_Fort_Stevens)** > > Indecisive > The Bombardment of Fort Stevens occurred in June 1942, in the American Theater and the Pacific Theater of World War II. The Imperial Japanese submarine I-25 fired on Fort Stevens, which defended the Oregon side of the Columbia River's Pacific entrance. > The Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-25, commanded by Akiji Tagami, had been assigned to sink enemy shipping and attack the enemy on land with its 14 cm deck gun. Transporting a Yokosuka E14Y seaplane, the submarine was manned by a... [http://oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=parkPage.dsp\_parkPage&parkId=129](http://oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=parkPage.dsp_parkPage&parkId=129) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-states-suffered-attacks-during-ww2/755377/13 "2016-05-22T19:42:08Z")
The Germans landed three teams of saboteurs in America via submarine. [Two](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Pastorius) in 1942 - one in Florida and one in New York - and [one](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unternehmen_Elster) in 1944 in Maine. None of these missions resulted in any actual sabotage but the saboteurs traveled through several states in addition to the ones they landed in. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-states-suffered-attacks-during-ww2/755377/14 "2016-05-22T20:07:04Z")
On July 11th, 1944, two military planes crashed in Maine, killing 29 people, including 17 civilians. These were two separate unrelated incidents, one in [South Portland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Portland_A-26_Invader_crash) and the other on [Deer Mountain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Oxford,_Maine). To this day, these events are still the #1 and #2 worst plane crashes ever to happen in Maine. However, these planes were brought down by weather, not the Axis. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-states-suffered-attacks-during-ww2/755377/15 "2016-05-22T20:30:07Z")
[Map of fire balloons.](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/news/photos/000/677/67790.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-states-suffered-attacks-during-ww2/755377/16 "2016-05-22T20:58:39Z")
[Wiki wrap-up of all American Theater WWII operations (Canada was a lot nicer to their German infiltrators).](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Theater_(World_War_II)) ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-states-suffered-attacks-during-ww2/755377/17 "2016-05-22T21:43:55Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > [Wiki wrap-up of all American Theater WWII operations (Canada was a lot nicer to their German infiltrators).](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Theater_(World_War_II)) I found this bit interesting: > [@](#): > > During the final months of World War II, Japan had planned to use plague as a biological weapon against U.S. civilians in San Diego, California, during Operation [Cherry Blossoms at Night](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cherry_Blossoms_at_Night). The plan was set to launch at night on September 22, 1945, but Japan surrendered five weeks earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-states-suffered-attacks-during-ww2/755377/18 "2016-05-23T00:11:39Z")
In addition to _Operation Pastorius_ that **Little Nemo** linked to above (which involved German saboteurs landing at Ponte Vedra Beach, June, 1942), a couple months before that, in April '42, and a couple miles north, at Jacksonville Beach, the steam tanker SSGulfamerica was torpedoed by a German U-boat (U 123). To the U-boat commander’s great credit, when he surfaced to finish off the tanker, he realized that missed shots could endanger civilians attending Jacksonville Beach’s amusement park. So, at great risk, [he maneuvered his boat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Gulfamerica) between the tanker and the shoreline so that missed shots would go out to sea and not into people spinning on the Ferris wheel or getting herpes at the kissing booth. The commander, [Reinhard Hardegen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhard_Hardegen), visited Jacksonville in 1990 and was received as an honored guest. Even Nazis could show compassion and their enemy doesn’t always hold a grudge. ---
**Author:** ![kurtisokc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kurtisokc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurtisokc)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-states-suffered-attacks-during-ww2/755377/19 "2016-05-23T01:59:09Z")
Boise City Oklahoma was also bombed. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boise\_City,\_Oklahoma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boise_City,_Oklahoma) (The OP didn’t say anything about being attacked _by the enemy_!) ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-states-suffered-attacks-during-ww2/755377/20 "2016-05-23T02:04:32Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > Indeed. Other US territories attacked during WW2 include Midway Atoll which was bombed during the Battle of Midway Island, Guam which was occupied by the Japanese in 1941 and retaken with [heavy fighting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Guam_(1944)) during July and August 1944, and Wake Island which was occupied by the Japanese in December 1941 and remained occupied for the duration of the war. If you’re counting all of these then you must also count the Philippines, a US Commonwealth at the time, attacked and occupied by Japan for three years. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-states-suffered-attacks-during-ww2/755377.md?page=2)