World War II As It Happened
A MaritimeQuest Daily Event Special Presentation
Saturday August 17, 1940
Day 352

August 17, 1940: Front page of the Manchester Evening News, Manchester, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 6: "Three Dead as British Tanker Sinks"
(The tanker British Fame was sunk Aug. 12 by the Italian submarine Alessandro Malaspina. The lifeboat mentioned as missing, was found. The other ship mentioned in the report, Clan MacPhee, was sunk Aug. 16 by U-30, the same submarine and commander, Fritz-Julius Lemp, than sank the Athenia on Sept. 3, 1939.)


August 17, 1940: Front page of The Daily Mail, Hull, England.
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Note the report at top left: "Soaring Totals Of Nazi Losses In Air Battle For Britain - 255 Raiders Down in Last Two Days"
(Keeping the "Never Doubt the Air Ministry" clause in mind, the record indicates that on Aug. 15 and 16, 1940 the Germans lost a total of 113 aircraft. [70 on Aug. 15 and 43 on Aug. 16.] 95 in combat, 14 non-combat losses and 4 reported as missing.)


August 17, 1940: Front page of the Derby Evening Telegraph, Derby, England.
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August 17, 1940: Front page of the Press and Journal, Aberdeen, Scotland.
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August 17, 1940: Front page of The Examiner, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
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August 17, 1940: Front page of The Sydney Sun, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
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August 17, 1940: Front page of The Telegraph, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
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August 17, 1940: Front page of The Lethbridge Herald, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
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August 17, 1940: Front page of Haarlem's Dagblad, Haarlem, Netherlands.
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August 17, 1940: Front page of the Biddeford Daily Journal, Biddeford, Maine.
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August 17, 1940: Front page of The Evening Star, Washington, D.C.
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August 17, 1940: Front page of The Evening Gazette, Xenia, Ohio.
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August 17, 1940: Front page of The Port Arthur News, Port Arthur, Texas.
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August 17, 1940: Front page of the Nevada State Journal, Reno, Nevada.
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August 17, 1940: Front page of The Bakersfield Californian, Bakersfield, California.
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August 17, 1940: Front page of the Hamburger Neueste Zeitung, Altona, Hamburg, Germany.
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1. 89 Flugzeuge und 22 Sperrballone vernichtet.
(89 aircraft and 22 barrage balloons destroyed.)
2. Wieder 25700 BRT Handelstonnage versenkt.
(Another 25,700 GRT of merchant tonnage sunk.)
[In the report "Neue hestige Luftkämpfe" they claim 89 British aircraft destroyed. (59 in combat, 23 on the ground and 7 at night due to anti-aircraft Flak. They also claim that a U-boat sank 28,700 tons of merchant shipping from an armed convoy. British records indicate that on Aug. 17 no fighter aircraft were lost in combat, but 7 bombers were lost on missions over Europe. On Aug. 16 the British lost 17 fighter aircraft. I cannot confirm the number of aircraft lost in the ground. They also state that only 31 of their own aircraft were lost. The record indicates that on Aug. 15 and 16, 1940 the Germans lost a total of 113 aircraft. [70 on Aug. 15 and 43 on Aug. 16.] 95 in combat, 14 non-combat losses and 4 reported as missing.)

The convoy action they mention may have been an attack against convoys OB-197 and OA-198. The attacks were made by U-30, U-48 and U-100. Three ships were sunk totaling 13,817 GRT. The report states that the figure includes a tanker of 5,700 tons. There was a 5,709 ton tanker, Sylvafield, sunk on Aug. 15 by U-51 so if you add that to the 13,817 the total is 19,526 GRT.)


August 17, 1940: Front page of the Völkischer Beobachter, the official newspaper of the NSDAP.
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1. Bombenhagel auf Rüstungszentren.
(Hail of bombs on armament centers.)
2. In 24 Stunden 183 britische Flugzeugen vernichtet.
(183 British aircraft destroyed in 24 hours.)



   
Page published August 17, 2021