| The Socony-Vacuum Oil Company tanker Emidio wrecked off the California coast following her torpedoing by a Japanese Submarine on December 20, 1941. 5 of her crew were killed, and 5 were wounded. The steamship Emidio was laid down on November 30, 1920, as Hammac by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation in Alameda, California, and launched on May 25, 1921. She was renamed Emidio in 1923 and sold to General Petroleum Corporation. She operated around United States ports for most of her career. By the start of the Pacific War, Emidio is the only tanker on the West Coast. On December 20, 1941, Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-17, under the command of Commander Kozo Nishino (???? – 1958), spotted Emidio roughly 25 miles west of Cape Mendocino in Humboldt County, California, while surfaced, and opened fire with their 140 millimeter (5.5 inch) naval gun at 1515 Hours. Emidio was sailing from Seattle to San Pedro with a crew of 36 under Captain Clark A. Farrow (January 5, 1904 – December 20, 1997). He orders the crew to take to the lifeboats as I-17 scores 5 hits. 3 Americans drown when a shell hits an unlaunched lifeboat, causing them to fall into the sea. 2 United States Navy planes arrive, forcing I-17 to dive. They retire, and I-17 fires a torpedo after resurfacing. It hits the aft engine room and kills 2 engineers; 1 man escapes alive. Cutter USCGC Shawnee (WAT-54) rescued 31 survivors, including Able Seaman Louis George Finch (February 4, 1919 – March 9, 1998), who was awarded the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal for voluntarily swimming for 90 minutes when 1 of the lifeboats was overloaded. The wreck started to sink by the stern and grounded on a rock after drifting near Crescent City. An attempt was made on December 25, 1942, to recover the ship and beach it, but it was unsuccessful. The ship broke in 2, and the bow section remained in Crescent City until 1959. Parts of the stern section remain in place to this day. I-17 fired at the Ellwood Oil Field on February 23, 1942, firing 17 shells. She damaged a pump house and a pier; a shell landed a mile inland. The incident did fuel invasion scares across California. The next night, anti-aircraft artillery in Los Angeles fired for 30 minutes at imagined Japanese aircraft, firing thousands of shells. On August 19, 1943, I-17 was sunk by depth charging and gunfire by HMNZS Tui. 6 survived, and 91 went down with the submarine. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1500.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.67 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 5798 x 4568 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | December 20, 1941 |
| Location | |
| City | Cape Mendocino |
| State or Province | California |
| Country | United States |
| Archive | Naval History and Heritage Command |
| Record Number | NH 89910 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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