Japanese Attack on Goleta

It was a little after 7 p.m. on February 23, 1942, in the small town of Goleta, about 10 miles up the coast from Santa Barbara. Ten-year-old J.J. Hollister and his family had just settled in to listen to President Roosevelt on the radio, when the boy thought he heard thunder. There was a thump, and J.J. and his family ran outside to find bright flashes lighting up the Ellwood Oil Field, just off shore.
A Japanese submarine was shelling Goleta, in the hope of destroying the oil installations. Unlike other oil fields on the California coast, Ellwood had no military protection, making it an easy target. In all, a dozen or two shells landed on Goleta, but little physical damage was done. Instead, the toll of the attack fell on the national psyche, with headlines crying “Submarine Shells Southland Oilfield,” and “First Attack of War on Continental U.S.”
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/monument-to-the-bombardment-of-ellwood