SS Emidio Memorial (Crescent City, California)

 memorial, Second World War 1939-1945, historic landmark

The SS Emidio Memorial consists of salvaged hull plating and bollards from the General Petroleum Corporation Tanker SS Emidio, which was shelled and torpedoed on December 20th, 1941 by the Imperial Japanese Navy Submarine I-17 with the loss of five crew. The attack was the first of several US Merchant Marine hull losses and crew casualties of Japan's US West Coast Submarine Campaign.

After drifting for over 24 hours, the Emidio finally grounded on Whalers Rock outside of Crescent City Harbor and broke up, with her bow coming to rest on a tidal flat not far from the present-day site of the memorial. Scrapped in 1950, the remaining portions of SS Emidio's bow formed the centerpieces of the memorial, which was dedicated in 1951 and added to the California Historical Landmarks listing in 1981.

www.noehill.com/delnorte/cal0497.asp