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• Destroyer Yuzuki departed Rabaul, New Britain, Bismarck Islands, escorting a troop convoy to Buna, New Guinea. ww2dbase [Yuzuki | CPC]
• Ira Eaker personally participated in the first American B-17 bombing mission against a continental European target, Rouen, France. ww2dbase [Ira Eaker | CPC]
• USS Skipjack attacked a Japanese transport in the Dutch East Indies; both torpedo missed. ww2dbase [Skipjack | CPC]
• German submarine U-507 sank Brazilian ship Itagiba off Brazil at 1549 hours (36 were killed, 145 survived); later at 1803 hours, as Brazilian ship Arará approached to rescue survivors, U-507 sank her as well (20 were killed, 16 survived). Meanwhile, at 1756 hours, German submarine U-566 sank Norwegian merchant ship Triton 200 miles northeast of the Azores islands; all 43 aboard survived. At 2244 hours, after a 6-hour pursuit, German submarine U-108 sank US tanker Louisiana 200 miles off French Guiana; all 49 aboard were killed. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
• German submarine U-658 attacked Allied convoy PG-6 between Cuba and Haiti at 0619 hours, sinking Egyptian ship Samir, sinking British ship Fort la Reine (3 were killed, 41 survived), and damaging British merchant ship Laguna (all aboard survived). ww2dbase [Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns | CPC]
• British submarine HMS Safari sank Italian sailing vessel Ausonia with her deck gun 10 miles south of Sardinia, Italy. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-83 sank Canadian troopship Princess Marguerite 50 miles north of Port Said, Egypt at 1408 hours; 49 were killed, 1,083 survived. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-209 attacked a Soviet convoy with her deck gun off Matveev Island in northwestern Russia in Pechora Sea between 0526 and 0920 hours, sinking tug Komsomolec, tug Komiles, barge P-4 (305 were killed, 23 survived), and barge Sh-500. ww2dbase [CPC]
• USS Nicholas and USS Savannah arrived at Norfolk, Virginia. Nicholas departed the same day as an escort to USS Massachusetts bound for Casco Bay, Maine. ww2dbase [Nicholas | Massachusetts | DS]

• Submarine USS Spearfish arrived at Fremantle, Australia, concluding her fourth war patrol ww2dbase [Spearfish | Fremantle | DS]
• Submarine USS Thresher departed Fremantle, Australia bound for Albany, Australia. ww2dbase [Thresher | Fremantle | DS]

• Tenryu departed Rabaul, New Britain. ww2dbase [Tenryu | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• Repair ship Akashi departed Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Akashi | Truk | CPC]
• Yugure arrived at Truk, Caroline Islands, completing the mission to escort the 2nd Fleet from Yokosuka, Japan. ww2dbase [Yugure | Truk | CPC]

• Winston Churchill arrived at Cairo, Egypt. ww2dbase [Winston Churchill | Cairo | CPC]

• The US Eighth Air Force launched its first "All-American" air raid over Europe with 12 B-17E Flying Fortress bombers escorted by four squadrons of Spitfire fighters attacking rail marshalling yards at Sotteville-lès-Rouen, France. Interruption by German fighters caused the damage to be minimal. ww2dbase [Bombing of Cities in France and Low Countries | Sotteville-lès-Rouen, Haute-Normandie | AC, CPC]
• Comandante Cappellini departed La Pallice, La Rochelle, France at 0804 hours for exercises, returning at 1202 hours. ww2dbase [Comandante Cappellini | La Rochelle, Poitou-Charentes | CPC]

• 139 British bombers attacked Osnabrück, Germany, destroying 77 houses and 4 military buildings, killing 7 people, and wounding 15 people; 5 bombers were lost on this mission. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Osnabrück, Weser-Ems | CPC]

• 211 men of the US 2nd Raider Battalion attacked Makin Atoll in the Gilbert Islands; it was the first amphibious assault ever launched from submarines (USS Nautilus and USS Argonaut). 9 of the raiders would be left behind by mistake; they were captured, were brought to Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands, and were executed. ww2dbase [Makin | TH, CPC]

• USS Hornet and Task Force 17 departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for the South Pacific. ww2dbase [Northampton | San Diego | Pensacola | Hornet (Yorktown-class) | Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• Yamato departed Kure, Japan for Truk, Caroline Islands escorted by escort carrier Kasuga Maru (later renamed Taiyo), Akebono, Ushio, and Sazanami. ww2dbase [Yamato | Kure, Hiroshima | CPC]
• Katori exited the drydocks at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal in Japan. ww2dbase [Yokosuka Naval Arsenal | Katori | Yokosuka, Kanagawa | CPC]

• In Operation Baritone, British carrier HMS Furious launched 32 Spitfire fighters for Malta; 2 of them were lost during takeoff. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | CPC]

• German submarine U-209 spotted Soviet ocean tug Komsomelets and ocean tug Nord at 0700 hours east of the Yugorsky Peninsula in northern Russia; the two tugs were towing barge P4, lighter Sh-500, and tug Komiles. U-209 immediately shelled Komsomelets and fired a torpedo at P4, which missed. At 0800 hours, U-209 shelled Komiles, forcing her crew to abandon ship. At 0810, U-209 shelled and sank Sh-500. Shortly after, U-209 fired another torpedo at P4; 305 were killed (most of whom were penal construction workers), 23 survived. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | Arkhangelsk | CPC]

• The Karenko Prisoners of War Camp in Karenko (now Hualien) in eastern Taiwan was opened. It would hold high-ranking prisoners of war such as Jonathan Wainwright and Arthur Percival. ww2dbase [Karenko | CPC]

17 Aug 1942 Interactive Map