Sunday, December 07, 2025
Did you know...? That 2 months after Pearl Harbor was attacked, a long range Japanese sub fired on the Ellwood oil fields (Richfield Oil Co) California? Near Santa Barbara, though the damage was minimal, the event was key in triggering the West Coast invasion scare
The "Flying Santa Barbaran" War Bond Campaign
Following the attack, a popular war bond drive, "Avenge Ellwood!" (named for the Ellwood oil field), was launched.
A bomber, dubbed the "Flying Santa Barbaran," was proposed as a symbol of this revenge, but it was never actually built.
Following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, seven Japanese submarines patrolled the American West Coast. They sank two merchant ships and damaged six more, skirmishing twice with U.S. Navy air or sea forces. By the end of December, the submarines had all returned to friendly waters to resupply.
Nishino ordered the deck gun readied for action. Its crew took aim at a Richfield aviation fuel tank just beyond the beach and opened fire about 15 minutes later with the first rounds landing near a storage facility.
The oil field's workmen had mostly left for the day, but a skeleton crew on duty heard the rounds hit. They took it to be an internal explosion until one man spotted the I-17 off the coast. An oiler named G. Brown later told reporters that the enemy submarine looked so big to him he thought it must be a cruiser or a destroyer until he realized that only one gun was firing.
Total damage from the attack was assessed at $500.
This was the view down to Ellwood Oil Field in 1942
The attack was the first naval bombardment of the United States by a foreign power since the War of 1812. Additionally, at about 5,100 miles east of Japan, the bombardment of Ellwood was the furthest direct attack on a land target that the Japanese Empire made during World War Two
Less than two months after the attack in Goleta, James Doolittle and his Raiders would lead the first of many U.S. air raids on the Japanese homeland, showing that Japan was vulnerable to air attacks.
one of the shells that was fired which did not explode was recovered at Silsby Spalding’s Tecolote Ranch in Winchester Canyon.
They contacted the US Army, who confiscated the munition and took it to Aberdeen, Maryland for further study.
After several years and many communications with the Army they defused the shell and returned it to the Spalding family where it had become a family heirloom.
Army Transportation Journal, April 1945.
This was created for the Los Angeles Port of Embarkation & features the stork from Dumbo.
I'd love to look through some of these magazines and see what the Army transportation magazine was covering
The IMV stands for Toyota's long-running "Innovative International Multi-purpose Vehicle" platform was revealed at this year's Japan Mobility Show
the idea is that the truck ships out as a set of assemble-yourself components in a crate and the buyer puts the end product together after arrival, presumably using included assembly instructions and normal garage tools
at the show, Toyota showed images of a few example configurations at its press conference, including a produce delivery truck and logging truck. Beyond those, the open-ended nature of the IMV Origin concept could spur a large customization ecosystem for the African markets in which it would theoretically be sold.
Nearly 44% of the 16,000 truck driving programs listed nationwide by the government may be forced to close if they lose their students after a review by the federal Transportation Department found they may not be complying with minimum requirements.
The Transportation Department said Monday that it plans to revoke the certification of nearly 3,000 schools unless they can comply with training requirements in the next 30 days. The targeted schools must notify students that their certification is in jeopardy. Another 4,500 schools are being warned they may face similar action.
This crackdown on trucking schools and companies is the latest step in the government’s effort to ensure that truck drivers are qualified and eligible to hold a commercial license. This began after a truck driver that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says was not authorized to be in the U.S. made an illegal U-turn and caused a crash in Florida that killed three people.
Air India hit with 13-year parking bill after rediscovering lost Boeing 737, it will now serve as a non-flying training platform for aviation maintenance technicians.
Over the years, staff turnover and record-keeping gaps meant the jet gradually slipped out of the airline’s institutional record-keeping.
The confusion appears to have stemmed from administrative lapses dating back to mergers involving Indian Airlines and Air India, as well as the aircraft’s former use as a freighter for India Post.
The aircraft was taken out of service and parked on a remote pad at Kolkata Airport in 2012.
It is the 14th abandoned aircraft cleared from Kolkata Airport in the past five years.
It is the 14th abandoned aircraft cleared from Kolkata Airport in the past five years.
a road in Motherwell, Scotland made with EcoFlakes, a new asphalt additive made of recycled plastic, will be monitored for the next five years
To roll out a new layer of road, construction crews make asphalt by combining things like gravel and sand with a crude-oil byproduct called bitumen. Intense heat is applied to bind the materials together, and planet-heating gases are released along the way.
In fact, the creation and upkeep of roads accounts for over 12% of those harmful gases globally, according to the World Resources Institute.
However, adding EcoFlakes into the asphalt mixture can cut up to 20% of the related pollution and make the resulting road last longer, the council reported.
That means using the recycled plastic product is a double win. It can enhance the road's quality for drivers while also replacing some of its dirtier oil-based ingredients with a cleaner option.
In fact, the creation and upkeep of roads accounts for over 12% of those harmful gases globally, according to the World Resources Institute.
However, adding EcoFlakes into the asphalt mixture can cut up to 20% of the related pollution and make the resulting road last longer, the council reported.
That means using the recycled plastic product is a double win. It can enhance the road's quality for drivers while also replacing some of its dirtier oil-based ingredients with a cleaner option.
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