Enemy Offshore!: Japan's Secret War on North America's West Coast

On June 20, 1942, the lighthouse at Estevan Point on Vancouver Island was shelled by the Japanese submarine I-26. It was the first enemy attack on Canadian soil since the War of 1812. But this was only one incident in the incredible and little-known Japanese campaign to terrorize North America’s west coast and mount an invasion through the Aleutian Islands.

Enemy Offshore is a dramatic, comprehensive narrative of the events that unfolded as Japan brought the Second World War to North American shores. Submarines—Japan’s formidable I-boats—stalked the West Coast, attacking ships and shore stations. A Japanese aircraft-carrier force attacked Alaska twice, grabbing a footing in North America and launching a bloody conflict in the Aleutians. The Japanese bombed an Oregon forest in an eccentric plan to start mass fires and desperately launched thousands of bomb-laden balloons against Canada and the United States.

Here are also the stories of ordinary citizens—fishermen, Natives and wilderness warriors who allied with the military in the extraordinary but largely unknown war on the West Coast.

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Enemy Offshore!: Japan's Secret War on North America's West Coast

On June 20, 1942, the lighthouse at Estevan Point on Vancouver Island was shelled by the Japanese submarine I-26. It was the first enemy attack on Canadian soil since the War of 1812. But this was only one incident in the incredible and little-known Japanese campaign to terrorize North America’s west coast and mount an invasion through the Aleutian Islands.

Enemy Offshore is a dramatic, comprehensive narrative of the events that unfolded as Japan brought the Second World War to North American shores. Submarines—Japan’s formidable I-boats—stalked the West Coast, attacking ships and shore stations. A Japanese aircraft-carrier force attacked Alaska twice, grabbing a footing in North America and launching a bloody conflict in the Aleutians. The Japanese bombed an Oregon forest in an eccentric plan to start mass fires and desperately launched thousands of bomb-laden balloons against Canada and the United States.

Here are also the stories of ordinary citizens—fishermen, Natives and wilderness warriors who allied with the military in the extraordinary but largely unknown war on the West Coast.

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Enemy Offshore!: Japan's Secret War on North America's West Coast

Enemy Offshore!: Japan's Secret War on North America's West Coast

Enemy Offshore!: Japan's Secret War on North America's West Coast

Enemy Offshore!: Japan's Secret War on North America's West Coast

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Overview

On June 20, 1942, the lighthouse at Estevan Point on Vancouver Island was shelled by the Japanese submarine I-26. It was the first enemy attack on Canadian soil since the War of 1812. But this was only one incident in the incredible and little-known Japanese campaign to terrorize North America’s west coast and mount an invasion through the Aleutian Islands.

Enemy Offshore is a dramatic, comprehensive narrative of the events that unfolded as Japan brought the Second World War to North American shores. Submarines—Japan’s formidable I-boats—stalked the West Coast, attacking ships and shore stations. A Japanese aircraft-carrier force attacked Alaska twice, grabbing a footing in North America and launching a bloody conflict in the Aleutians. The Japanese bombed an Oregon forest in an eccentric plan to start mass fires and desperately launched thousands of bomb-laden balloons against Canada and the United States.

Here are also the stories of ordinary citizens—fishermen, Natives and wilderness warriors who allied with the military in the extraordinary but largely unknown war on the West Coast.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781927527542
Publisher: Heritage House
Publication date: 10/15/2013
Series: Amazing Stories
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 144
File size: 2 MB

About the Author

Brendan Coyle was born and raised in New Westminster, BC. He is the author of the bestselling book War on our Doorstep. His freelance articles on BC historical topics have appeared in the Times-Colonist, Vancouver Sun and Province newspapers as well as in various diving publications. In 2003 he addressed the American Battlefield Protection Program of the National Park Service in New York on the importance of preserving the Kiska Island battlefield in Alaska.

Melanie Arnis lives with her husband, Brendan Coyle, in Steveston, BC. Melanie has been an educational assistant supporting children with special needs for the last 30 years. She has written and edited articles and newsletters in many volunteer capacities, as well as collaborating with Brendan on Enemy Offshore! and editing his other writings.

Table of Contents

Prologue 5

Introduction 8

Chapter 1 Sunk! Japanese Submarine Warfare on the West Coast 10

Chapter 2 Minora Yakota and I-26 25

Chapter 3 Meiji Tagami and I-25 32

Chapter 4 The Man Who Bombed America 42

Chapter 5 War Comes to Alaska: The Battle of Dutch Harbor 50

Chapter 6 Wilderness Warriors: The Alaska Territorial Guard, Pacific Coast Militia Rangers and Fishermen's Volunteer Reserve 67

Chapter 7 A Road to Victory: The Alaska Highway 82

Chapter 8 The RCAF in Alaska 95

Chapter 9 The Battle of the Komandorski Islands 107

Chapter 10 Attu: 19 Days of Hell 113

Chapter 11 Balloons of War 128

Epilogue 136

Bibliography 140

Index 141

Acknowledgements 143

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