September 17th, 1940 (TUESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:Bombing - Bismarck at Hamburg - invasion fleet at Zeebrugge and Ostend.
10 Sqn. Ten aircraft. Nine got off, one returned early, nine bombed. Severe opposition at
Hamburg.
51 Sqn. Ten aircraft. One returned early, nine attacked Zeebrugge successfully.
78 Sqn. Eight aircraft. Seven bombed primary, one bombed alternative. One damaged by Flak, one
man wounded.
An estimated 84 invasion barges are sunk.
RAF Fighter Command: During the day,
there is reduced activity again with only one large fighter sweep during the
afternoon. German invasion cancelled indefinitely. Seemingly on account of
weather conditions, reconnaissance activity is on a reduced scale, but a big
attack is launched in the East Kent area about 1530 hours. This is met by 23
RAF fighter squadrons some of which made successful interceptions and
casualties are inflicted. In the East, reconnaissances by single aircraft
are made off the Wash and East Anglian Coast, and one of these aircraft
approached North-East London. In the South-East between 0730 and 1300 hours
thirteen reconnaissances by single aircraft are made in East Kent, four of
these up to 0930 hours flew towards Kenley, Biggin Hill and London. At about
1530 hours a series of formations totaling about 300 aircraft crossed the
Coast at Lympne, Dover and Deal. The leading raid of 110 plus aircraft flew
as far West as Maidstone, the remainder spread out over East Kent. The area
of activity is bounded on the West by a line running North and South through
Maidstone, and on the North by the Estuary which is not crossed.
The Inner Artillery Zone is not penetrated. RAF No 11 Group detailed 23 fighter squadrons to meet the attack while No 12 Group had five fighter squadrons patrolling at 15,000 to 20,000 feet (4 572 to 6 096 meters) north of the Estuary. From 1700 hours reconnaissance activity continued in the Dungeness area. In the South and West, a few reconnaissances are made along the South Coast. One German aircraft flies across the Bristol Channel to North Wales and Liverpool area. Its return flight is made via Stoke and Oxford.
At night London and Merseyside are raided.
In a night raid on Clydeside the cruiser HMS Sussex is damaged.
Daylight lone raiders visited Caterham, Portsmouth and Speke.
Night raiders use the
1000-kg blast bombs for the first time. Adapted from sea mines these cylindrical objects
are about eight feet long and two feet in diameter. Each descends suspended from a 27-foot
diameter silk parachute. Thin case and large charge combine to produce a colossal hollow
bang, tremendous shock waves and extensive blast damage over a quarter mile radius.
During the night of 17/18 September, Luftwaffe activity is again concentrated mainly on the London area and the South-eastern Counties, with a few raids penetrating to Wales. Night raiders use the 1000-kilogram (2,205 pound) blast bombs for the first time. Adapted from sea mines these cylindrical objects are about 8 feet (2,4 meters) long and 2 feet (61 centimeters) in diameter. Each descends suspended from a 27-foot (8,2 meter) diameter silk parachute. Thin case and large charge combine to produce a colossal hollow bang, tremendous shock waves and extensive blast damage over a quarter mile (402 meter) radius. At about 1930 hours, the first hostile raids are plotted out of Cherbourg, Seine Bay and Dieppe, France, areas, after which a steady stream of raids, mostly single aircraft, crossed the Coast between Selsey Bill and Dungeness. The majority flew towards the London area, but many of them turned South again without penetrating the anti-aircraft barrage. Between 2100 and 0030 hours, a number of raids flew to South Wales, some of which penetrated to the Liverpool area. Raids are also plotted over East Anglia and in the Digby, Middlesborough and Glasgow areas. During the raid on Clydeside at Glasgow, Scotland, the heavy cruiser HMS Sussex (96) is hit by bombs causing serious fires, gutting the after end of the ship which then settles on the bottom with a heavy list. She does not return to service until August 1942. Minelaying is suspected in the Thames Estuary and off Southwold and Foreness. After 0100 hours, activity is almost entirely confined to the London area, East Anglia and the South-eastern counties. Intensity slackened at 0230 hours but increased again at 0345 hours when further raids became active originating from the Dieppe, France, area. Some of the night raiders are plotted returning in the direction of Ostend and the Dutch Islands. RAF Fighter Command claimed 6-4-2 Luftwaffe aircraft and anti-aircraft batteries claimed 2-0-0. The RAF lost five aircraft of which four pilots are safe.
London: Fireman Harry Errington (b. 1910) rescued two trapped colleagues after a direct hit on a building which was being used as a shelter by auxiliary firemen. (George Cross)
Corvettes HMS Bellwort, Armeria and Anchusa laid down.
Light cruiser HMS Charybdis launched.
Corvette HMS Heather launched.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA:
Units of the Mediterranean Fleet including HMS Valiant sail with HMS Illustrious for a
raid on Benghazi. Swordfish torpedo the destroyer 'Borea', and mines laid by them off the
port sink another, the 'Aquilone'. On the return to Alexandria, heavy cruiser HMS Kent
(54) and two destroyers are
detached to bombard Bardia before returning to base. She is torpedoed and badly damaged by Italian
torpedo bombers in the stern. She has to be towed back to base by the
destroyers, which they do with great difficulty. Kent finally arrived back at
Alexandria on 19 September. Kent is out of action for a year as she does not
return to service until September 1941.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 2308 hours GMT, the 11,081
ton luxury liner SS City of Benares is struck by a torpedo on the port side
fired by the German submarine U-48.
The ship, sailing in Convoy OB-213 (Liverpool, England, to North America), is
attacked a few hours after the RN
escort vessels had withdrawn. After a short time the ship sinks about 468
nautical miles (866 kilometers) west-northwest of Galway, County Galway, Éire,
in position 56.43N, 21.15W. The liner had departed Liverpool for Montreal and
Quebec City, Canada, on 13 September carrying 199 passengers, 90 of which are
children being transported to Canada as part of a government program. Only 57
passengers, including 13 children, are rescued, but 248 crew and 77 children are
killed. Immediately after the sinking, the British government ceases the
transportation of children to Canada and South Africa.
U-65 sank SS
Tregenna in Convoy HX-71.
U-99 sank SS Crown Arun.
FRANCE: Paris: The Nazis set up a task force, based at the Musee du Jeu de Paume, to acquire art
treasures for the Reich.
GERMANY:
Berlin: Artur Axmann, the new German youth leader, decrees that all Hitler Youth aged
between 14 and 18 in areas vulnerable to air raids must attend air-raid practice on Sunday
mornings - thus keeping them out of Church.
Hitler puts off Operation Sealion, scheduled to be ordered today. The new came in an
Enigma decoding of a message from the German General Staff to the officer responsible for
loading the transport aircraft earmarked for invasion. The message orders him to dismantle
his air-loading equipment; without that equipment there can be no invasion.
A plan for the attack on the Soviet Union is presented by General
Paulus, Deputy Chief of the Army General Staff. This plan has 3 major axis,
Leningrad, Moscow and Kiev.
FRENCH WEST AFRICA: In Dakar, the French Navy’s Toulon task force, reinforced by the Dakar naval squadron, departs for Libreville, Gabon; Douala, Cameroon; and Pointe Noire, Congo, with orders to reestablish Vichy authority in French Equatorial Africa.
U.S.A.: The first Lockheed YP-38 prototype (Lockheed Model 122-62-02, msn 122-2202, USAAC s/n 39-689) was flown by Marshall Headle on 17 Sep 40 at Burbank, California. This fighter aircraft is better known as the Lightning.
Destroyer USS Lansdale commissioned.
CANADA: Corvette
HMCS Camrose laid down Sorel, Province of
Quebec.