All you World War II experts answer this question for me

[bluestateguy]

During WWII was there ever any reported incident of enemy fire on the continental United States?

[Crazy Guggenheim]

1. Yes. From Japanese subs off the coast of CA.

[Maddy McCall]

2. But did they actually fire?

I thought that they were only spotted, but did not fire. I remember reading that California erupted in paranoia after the subs were spotted.

Have you've seen John Belushi in "1941?" It's a hilarious movie about that era.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

3. Not sure, but I think some shots were fired.

[WCGreen]

4. There were also Balloons with bombs that fell on the

northwest.....

[Bassic]

6. Indeed there were.

Sent during winter though, so to no great effect.

[BigMcLargehuge]

8. One landed as far east as Michigan

[Bassic]

9. Even further east I think in Canada

But I'm not sure. I think we got one or two in western Québec. But if the weather was cold enough for them to be useless in the US, imagine how ineffective they were up here.

[BigMcLargehuge]

11. I am pretty sure the one in Michigan burned down a house

thankfully the program wasn't successful enough to go to phase 2 where they baloons' payload would have been bubonic plague fleas.

[Zuni]

12. they did do that over China

[BigMcLargehuge]

16. not with baloons though

with modified light planes rigged to spray plague fleas, rice flax, and paper from tanks under the wings. Another method they used was a ceramic artillery shell that didn't heat up when it broke open allowing the fleas to survive both air drop from plane and firing from small artillery pieces.

[Bassic]

13. Yeah, and a good thing they didn't realize

the program's failure was mostly due to weather.

[Frozen Hamster]

5. Don't know about the U.S.

but the U-518 torpedoed the lodieng pier a Bell Island in Newfoundland and was the only German craft to attack targets on the North American continent.

[GOPisEvil]

7. Yes, a Japanese submarine did fire on the California coast.

The only US Civilian casualties on the Continental US were some hikers that happened upon one of the balloons loaded with explosives that were released by the Japanese. They accidentally pulled the cord that detonated the explosives. :nuke:

[CanuckAmok]

18. Yes, there's a memorial to them.

I can't remember the details, but they were all from one family, and they are acknowledged to be the only people confirmed killed on Continental American soil by direct enemy fire during WW2.

[Zuni]

10. The Japanese released hot air balloons with incendiaries

designed so they would release them after crossing the Pacific, believe it or not. They were supposed to start forest fires in the Pacific Northwest and in British Columbia

Some of these actually reached the mainland and started fires.

There were German U-Boats operating just off the coast of the US, sinking American and Allied shipping within sight of land, particularly in the dire year of 1942, when Axis submarines took the biggest toll on Allied merchant vessels

[ucmike]

14. japanese troops took over islands in alaska

although it wasn't a state at the time, i guess it was a territory. they occupied the islands for a while and there was some shooting. the counter attack failed-sort of-when american troops charged the main force of the japanese only to find that the japanese troops had disappeared under the cover of fog the night before. despite the fact that the japanese had left there were still american casualties as our troops fired at each other not knowing there was no enemy between them.

[underpants]

15. DO you consider the Outer Banks the continental US?

LOTS of GErman sub activity there during the war. They sank 800 or so ships.

Look it up

[texas1928]

17. There were a few fires started in the Pacific Northwest...

from fire bombs the japanese sent over on high altitude balloons.


Also there was attacks on the Gulf Coast by german subs.