17 November 1943

Frigate HMS Cubitt commissioned.

Corvette HMS Carisbrooke Castle commissioned.

FRANCE: During the night of 17/18 November, three RAF Bomber Command aircraft drop leaflets over the country.

GERMANY: During the night of 17/18 November, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 66 Lancasters and 17 Halifaxes on a purely H2S blind-bombing raid to Ludwigshafen without any target indicators being dropped. Few details are available about the results of the bombing but it is believed that the attack is accurate and the IG Farben factory is hit. Because of misleading instructions broadcast from England to the German night-fighter pilots, most of the fighter force landed early and only one Lancaster is lost. Additional missions are flown by Bomber Command Mosquitos: eight each attack the Vereinigte Stahl steel plant at Duisburg and a blast furnace at Hamborn, four each bomb Berlin and a precision tool factory at Bonn, and one each hits Essen and the Vereinigte Stahl armaments factory at Bochum.

U-1005, U-1006 launched.

U-297, U-866, U-1165 commissioned.

GREECE: Forty one USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb Eleusis Airfield near Athens destroying several parked airplanes and scoring many hits on hangars, other buildings, and runways. P-38 Lightnings escort the B-17s as well as USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells attacking the airfield at Kalamaki.

CHINA: Eighth USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-40s strafe the airfield and barracks at Kengtung while eight others attack Pingkai and targets of opportunity between Pingkai and Tahsai on the Salween River.

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies during the night of 17/18 November, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Surabaja (Surabaya) and Tjepoe, Java and Denpasar Airfield (Den Passar Field) on Bali, and B-25 Mitchells bomb a freighter off Tanimbar Island located between Australia and New Guinea.

NEW GUINEA: Australian tanks attack Sattelberg, the main centre of Japanese resistance.

In Northeast New Guinea, Australians of 9th Division open an assault against Sattelberg, which is suited by nature for defense. Sattelberg, a high peak and the key to the occupation of the Huon Peninsula, involves a hard, four-month campaign for the 9th Division. The 20th, 24th and 26th Brigades, assisted by tanks, aircraft, and artillery, participate in the battle. In the air, 58 USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators are dispatched to support an attack by the Australian 9th Division on Sattelberg, but because of bad weather only three B-24s, along with 12 RAAF aircraft, get through to the target. P-47 Thunderbolts strafe Japanese shipping between Saidor and Finschhafen.

AUSTRALIA: USN submarine USS Capelin (SS-289) departs Darwin, Northern Territory, on her second war patrol for Molucca and Celebes Seas in the Netherlands East Indies. She is never heard from again. Capelin is never heard from again; radio silence is broken in the attempt to reach her on 9 December, but without success. Japanese records studied after the war list an attack on a supposed United States submarine on 23 November, off Kaoe Bay, Halmahera Island, Netherlands East Indies, but the evidence of an actual contact was slight, and the action is incomplete. This is, however, the only reported attack in the appropriate area at that time.

ELLICE ISLANDS: Japanese aircraft bomb Funafuti Airfield on Funafuti Island killing two Navy Seabees and destroying a USAAF B-24 Liberator and a C-47 Skytrain.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Mili and Maloelap Atolls.

Two squadrons of USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Buka Airfield on Buka Island, north of Bougainville. Three B-25 Mitchells hit Kieta Airfield on western Bougainville.

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the Solomons Sea at 0350 hours local, Japanese "Judy" bombers (Kugisho D4Y1, Carrier Bombers Suisei) attack a convoy carrying Marine reinforcements to Bougainville Island, Solomon Islands. High-speed transport USS McKean (APD-5) is struck by a torpedo and the after magazine, containing the depth charges, explodes and ruptures the fuel tanks. Minutes later the forward magazine blows up and the ship begins to sink by the stern. The ship was carrying 185 Marines; 64 of her crew and 52 Marines are lost. The ship sinks about 21 nautical miles (39 kilometers) south-southwest of Torokina, Bougainville, in position 06.31S, 154.52E. (Dave Shirlaw & Jack McKillop)

Frigate HMCS Stonetown laid down Montreal, Province of Quebec.

Frigate HMCS Eastview launched Montreal, Province of Quebec.

Corvette HMCS Owen Sound commissioned.

U.S.A.:

Destroyer escorts USS McNulty and Oswald A Powers laid down.

Destroyer escorts USS Richard M Rowell, Mason and John M Bermingham launched.

Frigate USS Evansville launched.

Destroyer USS Melvin launched.

Destroyer escorts USS Riddle, Mitchell, Eichenberger and Calcaterra commissioned.

The small aircraft carrier USS Bataan (CVL-29) is commissioned. The USN now has nine aircraft carriers (CVs) and eight small aircraft carriers (CVLs) in commission. Frigate USS Coronado commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Grand Admiral Dönitz takes personal charge of a U-boat assault on convoy SL-139/MKS-30, comprising 66 Allied merchant ships.