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• I-168 departed Attu, Aleutian Islands with a cargo of ammunition and mail for Kiska. ww2dbase [I-68/I-168 | CPC]
• Adolf Hitler met with Hungarian regent Miklós Horthy in an attempt to persuade him to further the attempt to deport Jews, who were "pure parasites" and compared to "tuberculosis bacilli" per Hitler, out of Hungary. Horthy would continue to meet this deportation request as little as possible. ww2dbase [Miklós Horthy | CPC]
• In response to the German discovery of a mass grave near Smolensk, Russia, the Soviet Union insisted that the massacre was committed by the Germans. The Polish government-in-exile in London, England, United Kingdom requested the International Red Cross to investigate the matter. ww2dbase [Katyn Massacre and Related Atrocities | TH]
• US bombers attacked Palermo, Sicily, Italy. German pilots who scrambled to meet the attackers claimed shooting down 5 bombers and 1 fighter. ww2dbase [Conclusion of the Desert War | CPC]
• Gilmore was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Gilmore | CPC]
• Destroyers USS Nicholas and USS Fletcher departed Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides bound for Nouméa, New Caledonia. ww2dbase [Nicholas | DS]

• Matome Ugaki chaired a conference at the 8th Base Force Headquarters at Rabaul, New Britain. Among other topics, the admirals discussed the lack of armor on Japanese aircraft and the concern that Isoroku Yamamoto was soon to personally visit the front lines. ww2dbase [Friedrich Paulus | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• Masaichi Kondo and his air group was transferred to carrier Junyo at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Masaichi Kondo | Truk | CPC]
• Zuikaku and Zuiho arrived at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Zuiho | Zuikaku | Truk | CPC]

• The USAAF 306th Bomb Group flying from RAF Thurleigh launched a bombing raid that was the largest bombing raid to date by the 8th Air Force with a total of 106 bombers against the Focke-Wulff factory at Bremen, Germany. ww2dbase [RAF Thurleigh | Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Bremen | DS]

• Lieutenant Commander Anthony Henry Dropp took command of submarine USS Saury at Pearl Harbor, Hawai'i. ww2dbase [Saury | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | DS]

• Leonardo da Vinci sank Dutch freighter Sembilan, en route from Glasgow, United Kingdom to Durban, South Africa with ammunition aboard, in the Indian Ocean at 1130 hours. Of the 86 aboard, only the Indian sailor Shamshen survived. Leonardo da Vinci picked up Shamshen, who had suffered a broken leg. ww2dbase [Raids into the Indian Ocean | Leonardo da Vinci | CPC]

• USS Flying Fish sank a Japanese freighter off Japan, hitting her with 2 of 4 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Flying Fish | CPC]

• Jürgen Stroop was transferred to Warsaw, Poland by Heinrich Himmler to suppress the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. ww2dbase [Jürgen Stroop | Warsaw | CPC]

• The demanding training of dropping the new "Upkeep" bombs at low altitudes had proven too much for some British pilots. Pilot Officer Bill Divall replaced Sergeant Ray Lovell followed soon after by Flight Sergeant Lanchester and his crew being withdrawn. This brought 617 Squadron's stenghth down to 21 crews. ww2dbase [Dambuster Raid | England | AC]

• USS Cero departed New London, Connecticut, United States. ww2dbase [Cero | New London, Connecticut | CPC]
• In a routine change of command, Captain Arnold Jay "Buster" Isbell relieved Captain James Sykes as commanding officer of USS Card while the ship was at anchor in Hampton Roads, Virginia. ww2dbase [Card | Hampton Roads, Virginia | DS]
• Auxiliary Aircraft Carrier USS Bogue departed Boston bound for Argentia, Newfoundland. ww2dbase [Bogue | Boston Navy Yard | Boston, Massachusetts | DS]

17 Apr 1943 Interactive Map