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• » 17 Sep 1942

• Tatsuta Maru arrived at Singapore. ww2dbase [Tatsuta Maru | CPC]
• The American beachhead on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands was by this date 5 miles wide and 2.5 miles deep. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | CPC]
• USS Gar began her fourth war patrol. ww2dbase [Gar | CPC]
• Submarine Hoe was launched, sponsored by Miss Helen Hess. ww2dbase [Hoe | CPC]
• British submarine HMS United sank Italian salvage vessel Rostro and Italian auxiliary submarine chaser V39/Giovanna off Misrata, Libya. ww2dbase [CPC]

• At 0625 hours, German submarine U-515 sank US ship Mae 41 miles north of Georgetown, Guyana; 1 was killed, 40 survived. At 1314 hours, U-109 sank British collier Peterton 200 miles northwest of the Cape Verde Islands; 9 were killed, 34 survived but 1 (the captain) was captured. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
• The same Ascension Island-based US B-24 Liberator bomber that had attacked German submarines rescued survivors of sunken British troopship Laconia on the previous day attacked the submarines again, forcing U-506 to dive while 142 survivors were still on the deck; later in the day, French cruiser Gloire, sloop Annamite, and sloop Dumont d'Urville arrived to take on 415 Italian and 668 Allied survivors from the German submarines. ww2dbase [Gloire | Laconia Incident | CPC]
• Alpino Bagnolini sighted an aircraft in the Atlantic Ocean at 0950 hours; she submerged to avoid detection. ww2dbase [Alpino Bagnolini | CPC]
• One of the rescued Italians from sunken British troop ship Laconia passed away aboard Italian submarine Comandante Cappellini in the Atlantic Ocean at 0710 hours; he was buried at sea. At 1210 hours, another Italian survivor, Giovanni Volch, passed away and was similarly buried at sea. In the afternoon, the crew of Comandante Cappellini transferred 19 of the rescued British and Polish survivors onto lifeboats in the Atlantic Ocean and provided them with provisions. ww2dbase [Comandante Cappellini | Laconia Incident | CPC]

• USS S-44 departed Brisbane, Australia for her fourth war patrol. ww2dbase [S-44 | Brisbane, Queensland | CPC]

• Australian troops fell back from Ioribaiwa Ridge to Imita Ridge along the Kokoda Track in Australian Papua, 25 miles from Port Moresby; the Australians were surprised that the Japanese did not pursue in force. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 2 | Port Moresby | CPC]

• German Navy Admiral Karl Dönitz, who had previously supported rescuing survivors of submarine targets, ordered his submarine commanders to cease such actions in light of the Laconia incident on the previous day where an American bomber attacked a German submarine, full of survivors, flying a large red cross flag. ww2dbase [Laconia Incident | Karl Dönitz | AC]

• Archibald Wavell ordered Noel Irwin to prepare an offensive from India into the Arakan Peninsula in Burma. ww2dbase [Archibald Wavell | CPC]

• USS Juneau was assigned to Task Force 17 and departed from Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides for Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [Juneau | Espiritu Santo | CPC]

• In Stalingrad, Russia, German and Soviet troops engaged in heavy fighting at the Mamayev Kurgan hill, the Central Station, the grain elevator, and the apartment building soon to be named Pavlov's House. Also in the city, German troops advanced along the Tsaritsa River toward the banks of the Volga River where Soviet reinforcements were arriving from the other side. ww2dbase [Battle of Stalingrad | Stalingrad | CPC]

• Leslie Groves was given charge of overseeing the Manhattan Project. ww2dbase [Leslie Groves | Operation Trinity and Manhattan Project | CPC]

17 Sep 1942 Interactive Map