The Lookout Air Raid

Lookout Air Raids
Part of World War II, Pacific War
Lookout air raid schema
Date September 9 and September 29, 1942 Location Oregon Mountains, near Brookings, Pacific Ocean Result Japanese failure to ignite forest fires
Belligerents
United States	Empire of Japan
Commanders and leaders
Keith V. Johnson	Tagami Meiji Nobuo Fujita
Strength
1 patrol of fire lookouts	Sea: 1 submarine Air: 1 aircraft

The Lookout Air Raids were minor but historic Japanese air raids that occurred in the mountains of Oregon, several miles outside Brookings during World War II. This was the only time during World War II that the continental United States suffered an air raid attack by enemy forces.

On September 9, 1942, a Japanese Yokosuka E14Y Glen floatplane, launched from a Japanese submarine, dropped two incendiary bombs with the intention of starting a forest fire. However, with the efforts of a patrol of fire lookouts and weather conditions not amenable to a fire, the damage done by the attack was minor. The attack was the first time the contiguous United States was bombed by an enemy aircraft and the second time that the mainland US was bombed by someone working for a foreign power, the first being the bombing of Naco, Arizona by Patrick Murphy, although the Murphy bombing inside the U.S. was an accident.

On Wednesday morning, September 9, 1942, the I-25, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Meiji Tagami, surfaced west of Cape Blanco. The submarine launched a "Glen" Yokosuka E14Y floatplane, flown by Warrant Officer Nobuo Fujita and Petty Officer Okuda Shoji, with a load of two incendiary bombs of 76 kilograms (168 lb) each.

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