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• » 17 Jul 1942

• USS Long Island resumed carrier pilot training operations. ww2dbase [Long Island | CPC]
• Winston Churchill warned Joseph Stalin that, in the aftermath of the convoy PQ-17 disaster, no further convoy missions were in the plans for northern Russia in the foreseeable future. ww2dbase [Winston Churchill | CPC]
• In Libya, US Army Middle East Air Force launched B-24 bombers to attack Benghazi and B-17 bombers to attack Tobruk. ww2dbase [CPC]
• USAAF B-17 bombers attacked Rabaul, New Britain. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Minesweeper HMAS Castlemaine was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [CPC]
• US 11th Air Force bombers attacked Japanese positions at Kiska, Aleutian Islands. ww2dbase [CPC]
• American submarine Hake was launched. ww2dbase [Hake | CPC]
• Whitley aircraft of No. 61 Squadron RAF and Lancaster aircraft of No. 502 Squadron RAF sank German submarine U-751 northwest of Cape Ortegal, Spain, killing all 48 aboard. 1,000 miles West of Angola, German armed merchant cruiser Michel, having pursued since the previous evening, caught up and sank Norwegian tanker Aramis at dusk; 20 were killed, 23 survived and were captured. ww2dbase [Michel | Second Happy Time | CPC]
• American destroyer Satterlee was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British minesweeping trawlers Bardsey and Rosevean and frigates Bentley, Keats, and Kempthorne were launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Dutch submarine Zwaardvisch was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Minesweeper HMS Aries was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-747 was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The keel of German submarine U-880 was laid down. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-478 was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-903 was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Francisco Franco made his annual Civil War anniversary speech. ww2dbase [Francisco Franco | CPC]
• In Italy, about 280 American bombers attacked the rail marshalling yard at Naples while RAF bombers attacked Reggio di Calabria. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German occupation forces conducted an anti-patisan operation at Trifolo near Katerini, Greece, rounding up suspected resistance fighters and executing the suspects en masse. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German tanks stopped the Soviet advance north and west of Orel, Russia. ww2dbase [CPC]
• US Army, US Navy, and New Zealand Air Force aircraft attacked various Japanese bases and shiping in the northern Solomon Islands and New Guinea. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Troops of the Australian 3rd Division and US 41st Division marched from Nassau Bay toward Salamaua, New Guinea. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 2 | CPC]
• The keel of American destroyer escort Swenning was laid down. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The keel of American destroyer escort Willis was laid down. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Anti-aircraft cruiser USS Oakland was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [CPC]
• USS Bailey was floated out of drydock at the Boston Naval Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, United States. ww2dbase [Bailey | Boston Navy Yard | DS]

• Giuseppe Finzi, while at sea in the Atlantic Ocean at 0245 hours, was ordered to provide 30 tons of fuel to fellow Italian submarine Morosini. ww2dbase [Giuseppe Finzi | Morosini | CPC]

• A B-17 aircraft of US 435th Bombardment Squadron conducted a photograph reconnaissance mission over Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. USMC Lieutenant Colonel Merrill Twining and Major William McKean were on board the aircraft; upon seeing the Japanese progress on the Guadalcanal airfield, he noted "I hope they build a good one. We are going to use it." ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | Guadalcanal | CPC]

• The keel of Canadian frigate Longueil was laid down at Montreal, Quebec, Canada. ww2dbase [Montreal, Quebec | CPC]
• Canadian frigate Valleyfield was launched at Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. ww2dbase [Quebec City, Quebec | CPC]
• The keel of British minesweeper Providence was laid down at Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ww2dbase [Toronto, Ontario | CPC]

• Australian 24th Brigade and British 44th Royal Tank Regiment, supported by RAF fighters, attacked Miteirya Ridge (also known as Ruin Ridge to Australians) between Tel el Eisa and Ruweisat near El Alamein, Egypt; the offensive initially overran the line held by Italian Trento Division and Italian Trieste Division, but would ultimately be driven back by German tanks and Italian Trento Division. ww2dbase [First Battle of El Alamein | El Alamein | CPC]

• Submarine USS Growler completed her first war patrol and arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. ww2dbase [Growler | Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Pearl Harbor, Hawaii | DS]

• Chinese 38th Division under Sun Liren arrived at Ramgarh Training Center, India. ww2dbase [Ramgarh Training Center | Sun Li-jen | Ramgarh, Bengal Presidency | CPC]

• German submarine U-178 sank transport City of Canton northeast of Beira, Mozambique at 0031 hours; 8 were killed, 76 survived (one of whom was taken prisoner by the Germans). ww2dbase [Raids into the Indian Ocean | Mozambique Channel | CPC]

• B-17 bombers of the USAAF VIII Bomber Command planned attacks on Hannover and Hamburg, Germany, but both missions were recalled after launch due to poor weather. 33 of the bombers attacked targets of opportunity after receiving the recall order; 21 of them attempted to attack the Fokker factory at Amsterdam, the Netherlands but accidentally dropped bombs on civilian quarters, killing 150. On the same day, B-26 bombers of US VIII Air Support Command attacked Cayeux, France as a diversion to draw German fighters away from the primary targets in Germany. ww2dbase [Bombing of Cities in France and Low Countries | Amsterdam | CPC]

• Heinrich Himmler visited Auschwitz-Birkenau camp in Poland for two days to inspect the construction of crematoriums, inspect the expansion of prisoner barracks, and observe the extermination of two trainloads of Dutch Jews. ww2dbase [Heinrich Himmler | Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Oswiecim | CPC]

• German 1st Panzer Army reached Voroshilovgrad (now Luhansk), Russia. ww2dbase [Caucasus Campaign | Voroshilovgrad | CPC]
• He 111 bombers of German Luftwaffe unit II./KG 55, with the new Lotfe 7D bombsights, flew tactical missions in support of German 5th Panzer Army near Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, destroying the key bridge across the lower Don River. ww2dbase [Caucasus Campaign | Rostov | CPC]
• A Soviet whaling ship rescued the survivors of Dutch merchant steamer Paulus Potter and US merchant steamer Washington, both of Artic convoy PQ-17, at Novaya Zemlya archipelago, Russia. They were all later transferred to the British steam merchant Empire Tide that was anchored in the Matochkin Strait. ww2dbase [Arkhangelsk | HM]

• Adolf Hitler arrived at the Werwolf headquarters in Vinnitsa, Ukraine. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | Vinnitsa, Vinnytsia | CPC]

• A detachment consisted of 225 men and 4 officers of the US Navy 5th Construction Battalion arrived at Midway Atoll. The remainder of the battalion would arrive during the following month. They were to build an airfield and an underground hospital on Sand Island. ww2dbase [Midway Bases | Midway | CPC]

17 Jul 1942 Interactive Map