17 January 1942

Corvette HMCS Sorel arrived Leith, Scotland for repairs.

Minesweeping trawler BHMS Sir Tristram launched.

Corvette FS Commandant d'Estienne d'Orves (ex-HMS Lotus) launched.

GERMANY: Berlin: Hitler is getting rid of the generals who have failed to bring him victory in Russia. He sacked Field Marshal Walter von Brauchitsch on 19 December and took the opportunity to make himself C-in-C of the army. Field Marshal von Leeb, the commander of Army Group North, resigned yesterday after Hitler refused him permission to retreat from Demyansk where 100,000 men are nearly surrounded.

Another Field Marshal, von Bock of Army Group Centre, was relieved on 20 December at his own request because of stomach trouble brought on by his failure to take Moscow. Field Marshal von Rundstedt of Army Group South was sacked for telling Hitler it was madness not to retreat after the loss of Rostov, making a clean sweep of his commanders in Russia. Today von Reichenau, who took over from von Rundstedt, dies when his plane crashes while flying him to Leipzig for surgery and he suffers severe head injuries. The tank genius General Guderian was sacked on Christmas Eve for a withdrawal in defiance of Hitler's orders. Hopner went for the same reason, leaving Hitler now in supreme command.

U-442 launched.

U-232 and U-194 laid down.

ARCTIC OCEAN: In the first U-boat attack on an Arctic convoy, the Tribal class destroyer HMS MATABELE is torpedoed and sunk by U-454 in the Barents Sea off Murmansk at 69 21N, 35 34E while escorting convoy PQ-8. There are only three survivors as the destroyer explodes when hit a second time a few hours later and sinks in two minutes. Even in that short time, many had managed to abandon ship only to be frozen to death in the icy waters.(Alex Gordon and Dave Shirlaw)(108)

At 1846 hours, SS Harmatris in Convoy PQ-8 was hit by one torpedo from U-454 amidships and caught fire. The fire was extinguished and the ship reached port safely.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: At 0735 Destroyer HMS Gurkha is hit by one torpedo from U-133 and catches fire from bow to stern. HNMS Isaac Sweers tows GURKHA clear of the burning oil on the surface. They are North of Bardia at 31 50N 26 14E. Most crewmembers are then transferred to the Dutch destroyer by boats and landed at Tobruk this evening. There are 9 casualties. The burning destroyer has to be scuttled north of Sidi Barrani. Gurkha had been escorting the Malta convoy MW-8B (four fast transports covered by Admiral Vian's Mediterranean Fleet cruiser force), which had arrived in Malta on 19 January without further casualties. (Alex Gordon)(108)

EGYPT: 30 Corps, British Eighth Army, receives the surrender of the Halfaya garrison and takes 5500 German and Italian prisoners. The 1st Free French Brigade Group was to have participated in the attack on Halfaya, had the garrison not surrendered. They have been besieged by a South Africans unit. The Italian a garrison unit, built around the Savona Division and under the orders of that division's commander, General De Giorgis, is still holding on despite being completely surrounded, badly outnumbered, 500 miles in the British rear. This unit has held this position since being bypassed during Operation Crusader on December 8, 1941.

LIBYA: With the destruction of the Axis forces in East Cyrenaica and reopening of communication line from there into Egypt, the first phase of Libyan campaign is successfully concluded. In West Cyrenaica, British 13 Corps reconnoiters the Germans El Agheila position.

SOUTH AFRICA: South African Nationalists push a motion in Parliament to make the nation a republic disassociated from Britain, that would declare neutrality. The Parliament rejects the Afrikaners' motion.

CHINA: Pilots of the 3d Fighter Squadron, American Volunteer Group (AVG, aka, “The Flying Tigers”) shoot down three Japanese Mitsubishi Ki-30, Army Type 97 Light Bombers (to be given the Allied Code Name “Ann”) near Mengtzu at 1017 hours local.

PHOENIX ISLANDS: The six USAAF Hawaiian Air Force B-17s that landed on Palmyra Island in the Line Islands yesterday continue on to Canton Island.

JAPAN: The Japanese Carrier Striking Force sails to participate in operations in the Bismarck Archipelago.

SINGAPORE: Time is running out for the hard-pressed defenders of Malaya. With Kuala Lumpur in Japanese hands and its inhabitants in flight, the Japanese 5th and Guards Divisions are pressing southwards to Johore State where the coming battle will decide the fate of Singapore.

In their first clash with the Japanese at Gemas, the Australians ambushed and slaughtered a large number of bicycle-riding Japanese and withdrew next day in good order. The 45th Indian Brigade was defeated on the Muar river by the Japanese Guards Division. Fierce fighting followed, with Lieutenant-General Percival's army forced to retreat towards Singapore.

MALAYA: Additional reinforcements are moved into the Muar-Yong Peng area as the Japanese continue attacks and build up. West Force withdraws a battalion from Segamat, and East Force releases one from Jemaluang for operations in this area.
Twenty seven Japanese bombers attack Sembawang Airfield and destroy most of the buildings and the water supply.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: On Bataan, the II Corps counterattacks to restore the western portion of the line, formerly held by the 51st Division, Philippine Army (PA), and makes limited progress. The U.S. 31st Infantry, moving north from the Abucay Hacienda area, reaches the Balantay River on the left but is unable to make much headway on the right. Reserves move forward to plug a gap between the assault battalions. The Japanese encircling column begins an unopposed march down the Abo-Abo River toward Orion. In the I Corps area, Moron defenders fall back under enemy pressure to a ridge south and southeast of Moron.

PACIFIC: The Japanese submarine HIJMS I-60 is sunk by British destroyer HMS Jupiter 25 miles (40 kilometres) north-northwest of Krakatoa, Java, Netherlands East Indies, in position 06.00S, 105.00E.

U.S.A.: 78th Pursuit Group (Interceptor) and its three subordinate units, the 82d, 83d and 84th Pursuit Squadrons (Interceptor) of the USAAF, are constituted.

The War Department appoints Major General Lewis H. Brereton, Commanding General of the USAAF’s Far East Air Force (FEAF), as commander of tactical forces in the Australian-British-Dutch-American (ABDA) area of the Southwest Pacific.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0359, the unescorted RFA Nyholt, dispersed from convoy ON-52, was hit amidships by one torpedo from U-87 about 180 miles south of Cape Race. The explosion destroyed three tanks on her port side, but she remained afloat and tried to get to Newfoundland. The U-boat had difficulties to hit the wild zigzagging tanker and missed with four torpedoes at 0404, 0408, 0455 and 0534. While reloading the tubes, the tanker tried to ram the U-boat and both ships turned in circles near to each other’s until the stern tube was reloaded. The stern torpedo was fired at 0821 hours and hit the ship amidships on the port side, followed by a bow torpedo four minutes later, but the last torpedo fired at 0826 hours missed and the U-boat had to sink the ship with the deck gun after the crew abandoned ship in two lifeboats. 120 rounds were fired between 0902 and 0935 hours, of which about 70 were hits. When the Nyholt was abandoned, the master and two men fell overboard and only the master could be rescued by one of the lifeboats. The first engineer died on the second day, his wool sweater was given to someone who had none and the lifeboats became separated during a storm around 21 January, one of them with 13 crewmen, one passenger and one gunner in it was never seen again. The motor boat with 24 survivors was spotted by a Hudson aircraft nine days after the sinking, just as they were about to bury a crewmember, who died in the lifeboat. The aircraft dropped two life vests containing two thermoses with warm liquids, apples, oranges, cigarettes and some sandwiches of the aircraft crew. The survivors were later picked up by the HMCS St Clair and landed at Halifax on 27 January. The master died on board of the destroyer, while a passenger (the former first engineer of Taranger) died at a hospital on 5 February.

At 1121, the unescorted SS Octavian was hit by two torpedoes from U-203 and immediately sank off Cape Race, Newfoundland. The ship had been reported missing with a crew of 16 Norwegians and 1 British on board.