17 February 1945

NORTH SEA: U-1278 is sunk north-west of Bergen, Norway in position 61.32N, 01.36E, by depth charges from the British frigates HMS Bayntun and Loch Eck. 48 dead (all hands lost). (Alex Gordon)

U-1273 sunk in the Skaggerak in Oslofjord near Horten, in position 59.24N, 10.28E by a mine. 43 dead and 8 survivors.

Two clear signs of German disarray in the face of the Russian onslaught have emerged this week. Five days ago a decree issued by Martin Bormann drafted women into servive in the Volkssturm. As military difficulties increased, so have the numbers of women working to support the armed forces. Until 12 February, however, they had always been volunteers. The second sign of what the Allies will see as panic came today when the Soviet offensive forced the Germans to evacuate the rocket expert Wernher von Braun and other top scientists from their top-secret V-weapon station at Peenemunde.

At 1015, U-968 fires one LUT torpedo at a destroyer of the Groznyj class and observes a hit after 6 minutes and 20 seconds. Whilst minesweeping ahead of convoy RA.64 which had just cleared the Kola Inlet, sloop HMS Lark takes a hit from a Zaunkönig fired by U-968 (Oberleutnant Otto Westphalen) and has her stern blown off. Towed back to the Inlet she was surveyed, but found to be so badly damaged that it was not worth making local repairs and towing her back to the UK Consequently, she was stripped of everything useful and as a gesture of “goodwill” transferred to the USSR as of 13 June. Her ultimate fate is uncertain. Some say she was stripped, others that she was recommissioned into the Soviet Navy. Location: Kola Inlet 69 30N 34 33E.

US Liberty Ship Thomas Scott, in Convoy RA-64, was sunk by U-968 at 69.30N, 34.42E.

Whilst escorting convoy RA.64, Flower class corvette HMS Bluebell takes a hit from a Zaunkönig fired by U-711 (Kapitanleutnant Hans-Gunther Lange). The initial explosion is followed by a second massive explosion as Bluebell’s depth charges explode and when the smoke cleared Bluebell had disappeared. Survivors 1 (2)??? Location: Arctic 8 miles NE of Kola Inlet at 69 36N 25 29E. (Alex Gordon)(108)

U-425 is sunk near Murmansk, Russia, in position 69.39N, 35.50E, by depth charges from the British sloop HMS Lark and the corvette Alnwick Castle. 52 dead and 1 survivor. (Alex Gordon)

ITALY: Trieste: RAF bombers sink the Italian battleships CONTE DI CAVOUR and IMPERO, and a German destroyer.

EGYPT: Cairo: Churchill unwittingly drinks an aphrodisiac at a banquet for King ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: Iwo Jima: The weather clears, visibility is excellent, and aircraft from the Jeep carriers of TG 52.2 fly 336 sorties against airfield defenses. Surface ships move in to bombard the island with a complex schedule of round-the-island firing which must be co-ordinated with the work of under-water demolition teams (UDTs).

42 Seventh Air Force B-24s return to bomb from 5,000 feet (1,524 meters). They drop 832 260-pound frag clusters on defence installations just north of Suribachi's crater. Results are rated "good".

JAPAN: The US Navy's Task Force 58 under Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher, attack airfields, aircraft factories and shipping in the Tokyo and Yokohama areas for the second time in two days, and launches the final wave of the bombardment of Iwo Jima before landings commence. Tokyo targets include the Musashi factory. Weather is so bad in the area that a third strike, provisionally scheduled for tomorrow, is cancelled and the task force moves south to cover the landings at Iwo Jima.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The light cruisers USS Phoenix (CL-46) and USS Boise (CL-47), along with three destroyers, provide call-fire support for continuing operations on Corregidor Island in Manila Bay. Light cruiser USS Cleveland (CL-55) and destroyers USS O'Bannon (DD-450) and USS Taylor (DD-468) bombard the Ternate area on the south shore of Manila Bay.

PACIFIC OCEAN: 13 Japanese ships are sunk by USN surface vessels, RN and USN submarines and USAAF and USN aircraft.

TERRITORY OF HAWAII: Pearl Harbor: During diving operations in West Loch on the wreckage of tank landing ships (LSTs) sunk in the ammunition explosions in that area in 1944, Boatswain's Mate Second Class Owen F. P. Hammerberg risks his own life to save two fellow divers trapped while tunnelling under a wrecked LST. Although Hammerberg's efforts are successful, he suffers mortal injuries in a cave-in, to which he succumbs 18 hours later. For his heroism, Hammerberg is awarded the Medal of Honor, posthumously.

Destroyers USS James C Owens and Harlan R Dickson commissioned.

Heavy cruiser USS St Paul commissioned.

Minesweeper USS Peregrine launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 1100, U-300 fired two spreads of two torpedoes at the convoy UGS-72 27 miles from Gibraltar and hit US Liberty Ship Michael J Stone in station #43 and tanker SS Regent Lion. Michael J. Stone was struck by one torpedo on the starboard side at the bulkhead between the #4 and #5 holds. The explosion damaged 650 square feet of the hull. The ship began to slowly settle by the stern as both holds and the steering room was flooded. The crew managed to bring the vessel under own power to Gibraltar until 1800 by steering manually, drawing 40 feet aft. Salvage tug HMS Behest towed her into the port, where the ship was drydocked and repaired. All eight officers, 34 crewmen, 27 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) and four passengers survived. The badly damaged Regent Lion was taken in tow by the Admiralty dockyard tug HMS Rollicker and HMS Arctic Ranger on 19 February and was later grounded on Perl Rock, one mile south of Carnero Point. She was declared a total loss. Seven crewmembers were lost. The master, 40 crewmembers and four gunners were picked up by Arctic Ranger and destroyer USS Robinson and landed in Gibraltar.