Air Operations, Aleutians

• 7 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s attack the airfield on Attu.
• 4 B-25s, 31 343rd Fighter Group P-38s, and 14 P-40s mount 13 separate attacks on Kiska.

Air Operations, CBI

• 6 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack a rail bridge at Pazundaung.
• 7 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack a bridge at Myitnge.
• 10 B-25s attack rail facilities at Myitnge.
• 16 51st Fighter Group P-40s attack two bridges and a town.

Air Operations, East Indies

90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack Amboina.

Air Operations, Europe

In one of the 8th Air Force's largest operations yet 115 B-17 bombers are sent to attack Bremen aircraft factories. 16 aircraft fail to return while 10 German fighters are shot down.

• 37 Venturas bomb railway targets at Abbeville and Caen and a power station at Zeebrugge. All targets are hit and there are no losses.

• 24 aircraft lay mines off the Biscay ports without a loss.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

American bombers make another devastating raid on Palermo, Catania and Syracuse.

Air Operations, North Africa

The Germans bomb Algiers killing 16 nuns in a convent.

Axis Diplomacy

In an attempt to curry favor with the Pope and Spain, Hitler appoints 2 'old school' diplomats, Ernse Freiherr von Weizsäcker and Hans Heinrich Dieckhoff, as Ambassadors in the Vatican and Madrid, respectively.

Battle of the Atlantic

The US Coast Guard cutter Spencer (PG-36) sinks the German submarine U-175 in the North Atlantic area.

On this day in 1943, while escorting convoy HX 233, the Coast Guard cutter, USS Spencer, attacked German submarine U-175, which had located the convoy the night before, and sank her at 48°50’N, 21°20’W, rescuing 19 members of the crew.

Coast Guard Cutter Sinks U-boat

Interrogation of prisoners belonging to the crew of the sunk German submarine U-175 on board the US Coast Guard cutter Spencer 17 April 1943.

U-boat Crew Interrogation

Eastern Front

The only real activity is in the Kuban Peninsula where the Russians continue to press the 17th Army back.

The German 17th Army comes under heavy attack in the Kuban. Fighting continues on and off throughout the summer.