February 17, 1942
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

TUESDAY, 17 FEBRUARY 1942

ALASKA (11th Air Force): Colonel Lidnel R. Dunlap arrives from the ZI and becomes Commanding Officer (C. O.) of the 11th Air Force (11th AF).

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): The air echeon of the 88th Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy), 7th Bombardment Group (Heavy), departs Nandi Airport, Fiji from Australia with B-17's. The ground echelon is enroute Australia to India.

IJN: Six A6M2 Model 21 Zeros took off from Shōhō and land at Lakunai Airfield and were assigned to the 4th Kōkūtai (4th Air Group) as become the first Zeros based at Rabaul.

USN: The Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet authorized removal of athwartships hangar deck catapults from USS Yorktown (CV-5), USS Enterprise (CV-6) , USS Wasp (CV-7) and USS Hornet (CV-8). Inshore Patrol Squadron VS-2-D14 arrives Bora Bora.