The Ford Barn - View Single Post - Way off topic but everybody here knows about this

ursus · 02-20-2017, 02:32 PM

Perhaps not so well known were the Japanese attacks on the U.S. West Coast in 1942. This was conducted from a long range submarine carrying a deck-mounted cannon and a collapsible float plane. Fort Stevens on the Oregon Coast was shelled with 5.5 inch artillery and the float plane bombed forested areas further south in an effort to start forest fires. Of interest here is that the single witness to the aerial bombing described the explosion as sounding "like a backfiring Model-A Ford".

Later in the war, thousands of large bomb-laden balloons were launched from Japan to be carried on seasonal winds to the U.S. mainland. Hundreds were found or intercepted in the air in the Western U.S. and Canada and little damage resulted. The government had wished to prevent a panic among the civilian population so kept a lid on news about the balloon bombs. Unfortunately, a group of picnickers near Bly, Oregon found and accidentally detonated one, killing 6 people.

02-20-2017, 02:32 PM	#20
ursus Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Oregon Posts: 1,379	Re: Way off topic but everybody here knows about this Perhaps not so well known were the Japanese attacks on the U.S. West Coast in 1942. This was conducted from a long range submarine carrying a deck-mounted cannon and a collapsible float plane. Fort Stevens on the Oregon Coast was shelled with 5.5 inch artillery and the float plane bombed forested areas further south in an effort to start forest fires. Of interest here is that the single witness to the aerial bombing described the explosion as sounding "like a backfiring Model-A Ford". Later in the war, thousands of large bomb-laden balloons were launched from Japan to be carried on seasonal winds to the U.S. mainland. Hundreds were found or intercepted in the air in the Western U.S. and Canada and little damage resulted. The government had wished to prevent a panic among the civilian population so kept a lid on news about the balloon bombs. Unfortunately, a group of picnickers near Bly, Oregon found and accidentally detonated one, killing 6 people.