Correspondent Tom Wilmer visits with historian and author, Stuart McDowell about his new book The Sinking of the SS Montebello—When World War II came to the Central Coast of California.
The book vividly chronicles the events surrounding the torpedo attack and the heroic Central Coast residents who risked their lives to rescue the crewmen.
The oil tanker was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-21 off the coast of Cambria, California on December 22, 1941.
Fortunately all crew members were rescued but the tragic event further propelled fears of a Japanese invasion of the West Coast.
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