November 17, 1944
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

FRIDAY, 17 NOVEMBER 1944

ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): Four B-24s bomb Suribachi Airfield; two fighters intercept and damage one B-24 which force lands on Kamchatka.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, three B-24s bomb Kowloon Docks in Hong Kong; 15 B-25s, in flights of 2 or 3 each, attack gun positions, storage areas, and village and town areas N of Chuchou, W of Nanyo, and at Chefang and Nanyo and S of Hpalen, Burma; also a bridge at Tingka is knocked out; 100+ P-40s and P-51s hit targets of opportunity throughout SE and SW China, concentrating on the Mangshih and Changsha areas.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 33 P-47s hit troop and vehicle concentrations and supply areas at Manlu, Loi-Lum, Nawngmoloi, and Kyaukme; 10 P-47s support ground forces in the N Burma railroad corridor near Meza; 16 others sweep the rail line from Hsipaw to Sedaw hitting rolling stock, gun positions and other targets of opportunity while 3 bomb the Meza railroad station; 16 others strafe airfields at Nawnghkio, Anisakan, and Onbauk; nine B-25s bomb bridges at Lashio, knocking out a bypass bridge and damaging others; several machine gun positions are silenced in the bridge area; transports continue to operate on large scale, flying 266 sorties to forward areas.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): Fifteen B-24s, flying a shipping strike out of Saipan, attack vessels SW of Muko Jima Island and the attack harbor and town of Okimura.

Project Mike continues as B-24s from 42d Bombardment Squadron lay 8 mines in effective locations in Futami Ko, Chichi Jima.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s bomb Legaspi Airfield; B-24s bomb Sasa and Likanan; other B-24s and B-25s fly heckling missions over the Central Philippines, Mindanao, and NE Celebes B-25s continue to support ground forces on Mapia. HQ 317th Troop Carrier Group moves from Hollandia to Leyte.

USN: Attack transport Alpine (APA-92) is damaged by kamikaze off Leyte, 11°07'N, 125°02'E. Elsewhere, during a Japanese air raid on shipping off Red Beach, Leyte, freighter Benjamin Ide Wheeler is damaged by bombs; there are no casualties.

TBM Avengers from VC-82 aboard escort carrier USS Anzio (CVE-57) and destroyer escort Lawrence C. Taylor (DE-415) sink Japanese submarine I-26 in Philippine Sea, 12°44'N, 130°42'E.

Submarine Bluegill (SS-242) is damaged by depth charges in Makassar Strait, 00°48'N, 118°52'E, but remains on patrol.

Submarines USS Burrfish (SS-312) and USS Ronquil (SS-396) battle Japanese guardboat Fusa Maru in a spirited surface gunnery action fought in heavy weather south of Hachiro Jima, central Honshu, Lat 32°15'N, Long 140°00'E; American gunfire damages the enemy patrol craft, but not before she in turn damages Burrfish. Ronquil is damaged by own gunfire (premature explosion of 40-millimeter shell or contact with a lifeline stanchion and is forced to terminate her patrol. Fusa Maru is damaged and written off as a total loss and performs no more active service.

Submarine Gunnel (SS-253) attacks Japanese convoy and sinks torpedo boat Hiyodori and merchant tanker Shunten Maru in the South China Sea 130 miles east of Tourane, French Indochina, 16°56'N, 110°30'E. Destroyer Shiokaze and submarine chaser Ch 21's hunter-killer operations are ineffective.

Submarine Picuda (SS-382) sinks Japanese landing ship Mayasan Maru and damages merchant tanker Awagawa Maru,33°16'N, 124°43'E.

Submarine Spadefish (SS-411) sinks Japanese escort carrier Shinyo 140 miles northeast of Shanghai, China, in Yellow Sea, 33°02'N, 123°33'E, and damages landing ship Shinshu Maru.

Submarine Sunfish (SS-281) damages Japanese army transport Edogawa Maru west of Quelpart Island, 33°40'N, 124°30'E; although Coast Defense Ship No.61 claims her destruction, Sunfish escapes. Edogawa Maru sinks the next day.

P-38s sink Japanese ships Jinko Maru and No.3 Yawata Maru off Merida, 10°55'N, 124°30'E.