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• USS Tang sank Japanese transport Gyoten Maru, hitting her with three of four torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Tang | CPC]
• 35,000 of ther 56,000 Germans encircled by the Soviets at Korsun, Ukraine managed to slip through the net but in doing so left behind all their armor and equipment. ww2dbase [AC]
• USS Pintado departed Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine, United States. ww2dbase [Pintado | CPC]
• USS Cero fired four torpedoes at a Japanese transport north of Dutch New Guinea; all torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Cero | CPC]

• Destroyer Yuzuki arrived at Rabaul, New Britain, Bismarck Islands with Convoy No. 1,123, which was to be the last convoy to successful reach Rabaul. ww2dbase [Yuzuki | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]
• After dark and into the next date, ships of US Navy Destroyer Squadron 12 bombarded Rabaul, New Britain, expending 3,800 5-inch shells. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 3 | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• USS Honolulu arrived at Tulagi, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Walden Ainsworth | Honolulu | Tulagi, Solomon Islands | DS]

• Naka departed Truk, Caroline Islands. She was discovered, attacked, and sunk by the third attack wave of SB2C Helldiver and TBF Avenger carrier aircraft 65 kilometers west of Truk; about 240 were killed, 210 survived including commanding officer Captain Yoshimasa Sutezawa. ww2dbase [Naka | Truk | CPC]
• USS Yorktown (Essex-class) launched highly successful raids occurred on Truk (Chuuk), Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Attack on Truk | Yorktown (Essex-class) | Truk | DS]

• Ferdinand Schörner was awarded oak leaves to his Knight's Cross the Iron Cross medal. ww2dbase [Ferdinand Schörner | CPC]

• Indian 4th Division attacked Monte Cassino, Italy, failing to make advances and suffering heavy casualties. In parallel, Maori troops of the New Zealand Division established a small bridgehead across the nearby Rapido River. ww2dbase [Battle of Monte Cassino | Cassino, Lazio | CPC]
• Italian Admiral Giuseppe Sparzani was summoned to meet German Admiral Karl Dönitz. ww2dbase [CPC]

• US Marines landed on Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands. USS Hoel fired her main guns in anger for the first time on when she fired on Japanese troops seen moving about Parry Island. ww2dbase [Hoel | Marshall Islands Campaign | Eniwetok | CPC]
• Portland bombarded Parry Island, Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands as part of the Battle of Eniwetok ww2dbase [Marshall Islands Campaign | Portland | Eniwetok | DS]

• USS Alabama escorted carriers while carrier aircraft attacked Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Alabama | CPC]
• G4M aircraft of Japanese Navy Air Group 744 damaged USS Intrepid with a torpedo hit. ww2dbase [Intrepid | CPC, DS]
• In the early morning darkness 400 miles northeast of Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands, radar on USS Nicholas detected a surfaced Japanese submarine. Nicholas attacked and submarine I-175 was sunk (some sources list the submarine as I-11 and others as RO-39, but I-175 remains most likely). ww2dbase [Nicholas | DS]
• While transiting from Midway to Pearl Harbor, submarine USS Saury came across a floating mine and sank it with gunfire. ww2dbase [Saury | DS]

• Patrol Boat No. 102 departed Zamboanga, Mindanao, Philippines at 1750 hours. ww2dbase [Stewart | Zamboanga, Mindanao | CPC]

• Submarine USS Saury departed Midway bound for Pearl Harbor, Hawai'i. ww2dbase [Saury | Midway | DS]

17 Feb 1944 Interactive Map