Two cities that I have lived and loved the most have been Chennai in India and Santa Barbara in the US. I was born in Chennai and brought up in its suburbs, Chennai was where I had my first job. Santa Barbara was the city I moved to from Chennai.
Image: Chennai Central Railway Station
Image Courtesy: Jamal Haider
Image: Marina Beach, Chennai - the second longest beach in the world
Image Courtesy: Wikipedia
I joined the University of California at Santa Barbara in 2014 to pursue my master’s in Electrical Engineering. I got an internship during my grad school with Appfolio and later ended up working for them for about 3 years. I love both of these cities, both of them are by the beach and have a great vibe.
UCSB, in my opinion, is the prettiest college campus in the whole of the US and I am glad that I got to spend more than 4 years living close to the campus.
Image: Henley Gate, UCSB
Image: Campus Point, UCSB
UCSB Images Courtesy of UCSB Geography
Both these cities also have a unique historical significance, they were both the first cities in mainland India and the US that were attacked by Axis powers during World War 1 and 2 respectively.
Chennai Link to heading
Chennai (Madras) was attacked by Germany during World War 1. On the night of 22 September 1914, SMS Emden, a German light cruiser snuck up along the coast and fired at the city. Fuel tanks near the port of Madras were destroyed and the fires caused widespread panic. Residents of the city fled to the suburbs for safety and the word Emden entered the Tamil lexicon to describe someone powerful, frightening and with wicked intent.
Image: Oil Tanks Burning in Madras
Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France
One of the shells from the Emden struck the walls of the Madras High Court which is close to the port. A plaque exists at the spot where the shell hit.
Source: Telegraph India
On my way to work, I used to cross this plaque every day for a year. One day, my bus stopped very close to the plaque for traffic and I happened to read what was on it. A quick Google search introduced me to the significance of this plaque. Emden was able to leave after the attack without any opposition. She was later attacked by HMAS Sydney during the Battle of Cocos. She was damaged significantly and then run aground by her crew on 9 November 1914. A 105 mm gun from the German cruiser Emden was recovered and is currently displayed in Hyde Park, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Image: Gun from the Emden
Santa Barbara Link to heading
The Japanese navy submarine I-17 shelled the Santa Barbara coast near the Ellwood Oil Fields on February 23, 1942 during a radio address by President Franklin D Roosevelt. The Richfield aviation fuel tank, a derrick and a pump house were hit. The Ellwood pier suffered minor damages.
Source: Attack on Ellwood
Image: Newspaper article from goletahistory.com
Image: Ellwood pier from goletahistory.com
Image: Sign at Haskell’s Beach from goletahistory.com
The attack and the resulting panic resulted in the “Battle of Los Angeles” on the next night. An anti-aircraft barrage was unleashed over the city of Los Angeles after a meteorological baloon was misidentified as a Japanese aircraft. The chaos caused the death of 5 people.
Image: Article in the LA Times
The I-17 was later sunk on 19 August 1943 by HMNZS Tui and US Kingfisher float-planes off the coast of New Caledonia.