I-17 and the Ellwood shelling

I-17 carried a 14 cm, or 140 mm, 40-calibre deck gun, but its low, lightly stabilized hull was a poor gunnery platform compared with a surface ship. The popular story that commander Kozo Nishino chose Ellwood to avenge a prewar cactus accident does not fit his career: Nishino was an experienced submariner rather than a recalled merchant captain. I-17 stopped offshore at 7 p.m., spent about fifteen minutes preparing the gun, and then fired only 15 to 25 rounds during roughly twenty minutes. Most rounds missed, while a derrick and pump house were destroyed and a pier and catwalks suffered minor damage. The raid's limited physical effect makes its later psychological consequences more instructive than its gunnery results.