The Great War (1914-1918) in real time

Day 981 of the Great War, April 7th 1917

Western Front

British advance north-west of St. Quentin to Fresny-le-Petit.

Severe fighting round Berry-au-Bac (north-west of Reims).

Guam

Nine Germans are killed when they scuttle their ship SMS CORMORAN in Guam. This is the only clash between Americans and Germans in the Pacific.

Cuba & Panama: Cuba and Panama Declare War on Germany

President Wilson had framed Germany’s actions at sea as a “war against mankind.” Peace advocates argued, with justification, that if that was the case, why was the United States the only country prepared to declare war on Germany over it? On paper, at least, these criticisms were addressed on April 7, when Cuba and Panama also declared war, a day after the United States did.

Of course, these were not reflective of a spontaneous trend among neutral countries; both countries were highly dependent on the United States and had a large American military presence. Panama owed its existence to the United States, and the United States controlled the canal that bisected the country. Cuba had been occupied twice by the United States in the previous twenty years, and the Cuban government felt that joining the war would strengthen their position with the United States.

Cuba immediately seized 4 German ships that were interned in its harbors. They eventually instituted a draft and raised around 25,000 soldiers, but they would still be in Cuba at the end of the war; their participation in Europe was ultimately limited to around 100 medical personnel. The Cuban economy boomed during the war, in large part due to an increase in sugar prices as French sugar beet production collapsed. Panama did not apparently actively participate in the war.

United States

Police of Cleveland, Ohio raid the homes of naturalized Germans-Americans and confiscate their rifles and other weapons.

Austria-Hungary

The Austro-Hungarian Empire breaks off diplomatic relations with the United States of America.

Austro-Hungary announces it has raised 6.23 billion kronen (about $1.246 billion) for its fifth war loan.

Aerial operations: Heavy Losses

Today saw one of the heaviest days of fighting in the air of the war so far. The RFC suffered 28 aircraft shot down, whilst claiming to have destroyed 15 enemy aircraft and forced down another 16.

At this point in war, the British pusher types were now completely outclassed by the new German fighters.on 3 April, IV Brigade had ordered that FE2bs were not to be flown over the lines. However necessity entailed there use at the cost of many losses. For example, 57 Squadron equipped with the marginally better FE2d, was attacked by a number of Jastas and five of its aircraft shot down.

First, Jasta 5 got in on the act with Leutnant Heinrich Gontermann shooting down Lieutenant Thomas Frank Burrill and Private F Smith in FE2d A1959, and Edmund Nathanael shooting down 2nd Lieutenant Hugh Douglas Hamilton and Private E Snelling in FE2d A6388. All four were taken prisoner.

A few minutes later, Jasta 12 arrived and Leutnant Otto Splitberger shot down Lieutenant Douglas Clarkson Birch and Lieutenant Jonathan Keith Bousfield MC in FE2d A21, followed by Hauptmann Paul Hennig von Osterroht shooting down Captain Arthur Claud Wright and Private R Sibley in FE2d A1952. Birch and Bousefield were taken prisoner but Wright and Sibley limped back over the lines before crashing. Wright was wounded.

Finally, Lieutenant Raymond Terrance Brymer Schreiber and 2nd Lieutenant Martin Lewis in FE2d A22 –were shot down and taken prisoner by Obleutnant Adolf von Tutscheck from Jasta 2.

During the battle Oberleutnant Hans Berr and his wingmate Leutnant Paul Hoppe collided and were killed.

On the plus side, a five-man patrol led by Flight Commander Theophilus Chater Vernon, 3 Naval Squadron were carrying out an offensive patrol in their Sopwith Pups when they met four enemy aircraft attacking a BE2 formation, and shot them all down. Those claiming victory were the other four – Flight Commander Lloyd Samuel Breadner, Flight Sub-Lieutenant Joseph Stewart Temple Fall, Flight Sub-Lieutenant Alfred Williams Carter, and Flight Sub-Lieutenant Frederick Carr Armstrong.

Aerial operations: Dirty Tricks

For the last few nights, the RNAS has been carrying out bombing attacks against the seaplane base at the Zeebrugge Mole and against active aerodromes in Belgium.

During the attacks, the pilots spotted that as soon as the first aircraft appeared over the port, the German destroyers put to sea and anchored about a mile off the end of the Mole.

Vice-Admiral Bacon saw an opportunity to use some of his torpedo-carrying coastal motor-boats for attacks on the anchored destroyers and, tonight the destroyer Falcon, with four coastal motor-boats, set out.

The Short seaplanes were sent out later, at fifteen or twenty minutes apart, and the motor-boats were four miles off Zeebrugge, ready to close the port at slow speed, as soon as the bombing began.

The first Short seaplane pilot opened the attack at 2315 with one 520-lb. bomb, and twenty minutes later 65-lb. bombs came from a second seaplane. A third appeared within ten minutes and, after dropping a 264-lb. and a 100-lb. bomb, attacked the Mole searchlights with machine-gun fire. Meanwhile the motor-boats had quietly approached four German destroyers and surprised them in the Wielingen Channel. Hits were made on the destroyer G.88, which was sinking when the motor-boats turned for home: the boats reached Dunkirk safely between four and five in the morning.

Aerial operations: 60 Squadron takes another beating

Two flights of 60 Squadron were on patrol over Wacourt, some 4km over the German lines, when they were jumped by a five strong patrol from Jasta 11 led by Manfred Von Richthofen.

During the fight, 2nd Lieutenant George Orme Smart was shot down in his Nieuport 17 (A6645) – his aircraft was later found burnt out between the lines. Lieutenant Charles Sidney Hall in Nieuport 23 A6766 was also shot down in flames and killed. Their colleague 2nd Lieutenant Hamilton E Hervey was badly shot up in his Nieuport 17 (B1517) but managed to get back over the lines.

Richthofen, Kurt Wolff and Karl-Emil Shaeffer all made claims. The traditional record is that Smart was shot down by Richthofen but this seems to be a case of pulling rank by Richthofen and it is more likely he attacked Hervey as their records of the encounter are similar. This would leave Schaeffer as the victor over Smart. Kurt Wolff accounted for Hall.

Also shot down, but taken prisoner, was Captain Maurice Baxendale Knowles in Nieuport 17 A6773. He was attacked by Leutnant Wilhelm Frankl from Jasta 4.

Lieutenant Billy Bishop claimed to have shot down an Albatros Scout and a balloon destroyed, but there was no evidence to substantiate his claims. Lieutenant Alan Binnie also had a go at a balloon but it failed to set it alight.

Naval operations: North Atlantic Ocean, far west of Ireland

Karlgeorg Schuster, commanding U-60, torpedoes British freighter SS SALMO, 1,721 tons, bound from Oporto for Liverpool with a general cargo, 210 miles west of Fastnet. His score is now 12 ships and 29,196 tons.

Naval operations: Western Scotland

Leo Hillebrand, in U-46, sinks Norwegian barque FISKAA, 1,700 tons, en route from Galveston to Copenhagen with a load of oilcake; off St Kilda Island. His score is now 24 ships and 46,709 tons.

British minesweepr HMS JASON, 810 tons, hits a mine laid off Coll Island by Otto Dröscher in U-78, bringing his score to 14 ships and 19,841 tons.

Naval operations: Irish Sea

British passenger liner SS LAPLAND, 18,565 tons, travelling from New York to Liverpool with a general cargo, hits a mine laid off the Liverpool lighthouse by Otto Steinbrinck in UC-65. The damaged ship makes it safely into Liverpool.

Naval operations: Bay of Biscay

Hans Valentiner, in U-71, sinks Portuguese freighter SS CAMINHA, 2,763 tons. en route from Lisbon to Rochefort. His score is now 39 ships and 26,170 tons.

Naval operations: Golfe du Lion

Hans Walther, in U-52, uses his deck gun to sink American freighter SS SEWARD, 3,390 tons, carrying war material from New York to Genoa. His score is now 23 ships and 55,607 tons.

Naval operations: Alboran Sea

Johannes Feldkirchner, n UC-25, scuttles American schooner EDWIN R. HUME, 1,132 tons, bound from Cette to New York with an unspecified cargo, off Cap de Gata, Spain. His score is now 5 vessels and 2,469 tons.

Naval operations: Mediterranean Sea

Hermann von Fischel, in U-65, scuttles British freighter SS TREFUSIS, 2,642 tons, carrying a load of coal from Cardiff to Alexandria. His score is now 14 ships and 36,028 tons.

Leading U-boat ace Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, in U-35, sinks British freighter SS MAPLEWOOD, 3,239 tons, en route from La Goulette to West Hartlepool with a load of iron ore; off Capo Sperone, Sardinia. His score is now 157 ships and 321,368 tons.

Photo: SM U 35 attacking British cargo ship SS MAPLEWOOD

Day 983 of the Great War, April 9th 1917

Western Front: Battles of Vimy Ridge and Arras

Since the beginning of the year, the British had been planning an attack around Arras, to be conducted a week before Nivelle’s major French offensive on the Aisne further south. The ground had been fought over before; the French had attacked here in May 1915, but had ultimately failed to make substantial gains. The attack had originally been planned for Easter Sunday, April 8, but had been pushed back a day to April 9 due to inclement weather in the previous week. There would be two major attacks: the Canadian Corps under Byng at Vimy Ridge, and the British under Allenby further south around Arras. Both had been meticulously planned; large caves had been excavated to protect the attacking soldiers from any German counter-barrage, and they would proceed up to the first line of trenches by tunnel without exposing themselves to enemy fire. The infantry, especially those in the Canadian Corps, had been carefully trained, and knew their objectives well, allowing them to keep the offensive going even if their officers were killed or communications broke down.

Map: Location of the Battle of Vimy Ridge



Four days of bombardment had cut barbed wire, severed German communications, and destroyed many of the German trenches (if not their more fortified positions). At 5:30 AM on April 9, the barrage began again, but it lifted and moved back behind the German lines only three minutes later. Gus Sivertz, a Canadian with the first wave that had already crawled into no-man’s land, recalled:

Map: The Canadian Corps plan of attack outlining the four coloured objective lines – Black, Red, Blue and Brown



I looked ahead and saw the German front line crashing into pieces; bits of men, timbers, lumps of chalk were flung through the air and, blending with the shattering wall of fire, were the Hun SOS signals of all colours. We didn’t dare lift our heads, knowing that the barrage was to come flat over us and then lift in three minutes.

The Canadians seized most of the first line of trenches with little resistance, often securing them well ahead of schedule. However, the timing of the subsequent barrages, which had been worked out with clockwork precision, prevented the Canadians from advancing before their set timetable. Even if there were no Germans in front of them, they would be advancing into their own barrage. This theme would repeat throughout the day, though the Canadians did advance as planned, in places up to four miles.

Painting: The Battle of Vimy Ridge



On the northern end of their advance, the Canadians did run into some difficulties. One section of the German first line was spared from the barrage by the request of the local CO of the infantry, who wanted the trench intact as defense against German counterattacks; these Germans were only rooted out when flanked on both sides. Additionally, Vimy Ridge itself had networks of underground tunnels which the artillery could not touch. In some places, the Germans, realizing they were trapped, surrendered quickly. In one instance, a Capt. McDowell captured 77 Germans single-handed, pretending to give orders to non-existent troops behind him, then ordering the Germans out in small groups to his waiting men on the surface; he would win a Victoria Cross for his effort. Elsewhere, the Germans put up more of a fight and it would take many hours to clear them out; the Canadians’ northernmost objective was not taken until that night.

Map: German dispositions at Vimy Ridge on the first day of the battle



The Germans were not able to recover and counterattack quickly, as they had kept their reserve far away from the front line, up to 15 miles in places. While this kept them safe from Allied artillery and airplanes, it meant they could not launch a counterattack before the Canadians had secured their positions; unlike in 1915, Vimy Ridge would stay in Allied hands. The mandated pauses in the advance prevented the Canadians from pushing forward beyond their objectives, however, until late in the afternoon, by which time the first German reserves had arrived, and the commanders on the spot were reluctant to take the initiative. A tentative effort to break out onto the plains beyond Vimy Ridge with cavalry was quickly beaten back.

The British under Allenby, further to the south, had similar successes. This attack used more tanks; the few ones allotted to the Canadians got stuck in mud and proved useless. These tanks proved more useful, but all of them had been knocked out of action by noon. Advancing several miles, they had opened a four-mile long complete gap in the German lines, but would not make any further advance beyond the occasional patrol that day.

Photo: Artillery-fire on a field of barbed wire at Vimy Ridge



Photo: 6-inch (150 mm) gun of the Royal Garrison Artillery behind Canadian lines, firing over Vimy Ridge at night



Mesopotamian campaign

Russians occupy Kizil Robat. British occupy Harbe (four miles north of Belad).

United Kingdom

Due to lack of supply, British beer prices have risen, causing disaffection among factory workers.

Canada

Total Canadian oversea enlistments to date:- 407,302 of which Ontario 170,205, Montreal 36,282, Quebec 8,145.

Aerial operations: A new offensive

The latest British offensive opened today. The attack front runs from Givenchy-en-Gohelle in the north to a point near Croisilles in the south. The capture of Vimy Ridge, the key position in the north, has been entrusted to the right of the First Army (chiefly the Canadian Corps reinforced by the 5th Division and by heavy artillery of the I Corps). The rest of the attack will be carried out by the Third Army.

The total strength of the Royal Flying Corps along the whole front of the First and Third Armies is 25 squadrons, with 365 serviceable aeroplanes of which a third are single-seater fighters (56 Squadron will also be available shortly with its SE5 fighters). The German Sixth Army in opposition has an air strength of eighteen reconnaissance and artillery flights, five fighter flights, and seven protection flights, comprising a total of 195 aeroplanes, with alsomost half being fighters. That said, the German aircraft (and the fighters in particular are superior to the British, and have been in place in numbers since the autumn of 1916 giving the German pilots plenty of time to learn appropriate tactics. The British are bringing on a number of new types on stream but these are untested in combat.

The plan of attack followed a series of short advances, the capture of each successive objective being timed in accordance with a pre-arranged programme. Under this programme contact patrol aeroplanes (A variety of BE types) from 12, 13 and 16 Squadrons flew over the front to detect and report on progress which would be signalled by flares in response to Klaxxon horns sounded by the aircraft.

Aircraft were up from 0600 to follow the advance which took place in snowy conditions. The aircraft nevertheless were able to report progress and points of enemy resistance and most of the objectives were taken by the end of the day. Despite this intensive activity only one aircraft went missing, that of 2nd Lieutenant Ernest Buxton Smyth and 2nd Lieutenant S Cooper from 16 Squadron who were hit by a shell in BE2g 6818 and crashed in no-mans land (in the end they were found wounded in an abandoned German dugout a few days later when the advance continued).

Their colleagues 2nd Lieutenants Vernon Forster Stewart and George Ronald Yorston Stout were shot up and crashed, writing off their BE2f (2550) – both men were unharmed though.

12 Squadron wrote off two of its BE2e’s. Lieutenant Norman Thirmbeck Croft and Lieutenant John McDougall Musson crashed BE2e A3159 after being shot through by machine -gun fire. More prosaically, Lieutenant George Hall Gordon and Lieutenant Lionel Baker-Jones crashed their BE2e (7078) when they were caught by a gust of wind on landing.

Finally 13 Squadron had 6 of its aircraft destroyed. Lieutenant Kenneth Capel (Ok) & Lieutenant Jack Brooker crashed and wrote off BE2c 4493 after a forced landing. Lieutenant Douglas Herbert Bell and Captain W W Boyd did the same to their BE2d (5875). Lieutenant Frederick Albert Victor Cook and Lieutenant John Edward Albert Robertson Daly crashed their BE2c 5437 in no-mans land after being hit by machine gun fire. Lieutenant John Hamilton Norton and Captain Theodore Laird Tibbs, also crashed in no-mans land after bing hit by artillery fire. Both aircraft were destroyed. In the end though, all four crews survived unhurt.

The other two were lost when they overturned on the aerodrome on take off. Lieutenant Eric Redgrave Gunner and Lieutenant Cecil Curtis in BE2e (A2867) and Lieutenant Leslie Robin Neville and Lieutenant William Ewart Wittrick Cushing in BE2e (6262) were the guilty parties.

In the end there were only two fatalities during the day when observer Lieutenant Harold George Collins from 48 Squadron was killed on patrol. His pilot Lieutenant John Herbert Towne Letts got their Bristol F2B (A3315) back. They also claimed to have shot down two Albatrosses. Also Lieutenant Johannes Hieronymus Brink from 4 Squadron was wounded and later died when he and his observer Lieutenant Robert Ellis Heath (who was wounded) were shot down and crashed in their BE2d 5742 This has traditionally been allocated to Leutnant Karl Schaeffer from Jasta 11 but this seems unlikely as he was serving on a different part of the front at the time.

Naval operations: Irish Sea

American passenger liner SS NEW YORK, 10,798 tons, carrying a general cargo from New York to Liverpool, hits a mine laid off the Mersey Bar by Otto Steinbrinck in UC-65. The damaged ship makes it safely into port.

Naval operations: Celtic Sea

Hans Valentiner, commanding UC-71, sinks two ships west of Brittany:
Greek freighter SS THERMISTOCLIS, 1895 tons, bound from Cardiff for Algiers with a load of coal.
Norwegian freighter SS VAHALL, 750 tons, en route from Manchester to Cadiz with a load of pitch.
Valentiner's score is now 41 ships and 28,815 tons.

Naval operations: English Channel

Heinrich Küstner, in UB-39, sinks French sailing vessel SAINT MAUDEZ, 282 tons, off Fécamp. His score is now 51 vessels and 51,045 tons.

Naval operations: North Sea

Wilhelm von Fircks, in U-59, sinks Norwegian Barque FREMAD I, 1,554 tons, carrying a load of oilcake from Savannah to Korsør. His score is now 14 ships and 27,050 tons.

Thomas Bieber, in UB-31, torpedoes British freighter SS KITTIWAKE, 1,866 tons, en route from Liverpool to Rotterdam with a general cargo. This is his first sinking.

HMT ORTHOS, 218 tons, hits a mine laid by Ulrich Pilzecker in UC-14, rasing his score to 2 vessels and 534 tons.

Naval operations: Russia

Curt Beitzen, in U-75, sinks Russian freighter SS GANSLEI, 11,273 tons, travelling from Tyne to North Russia; in Kola Bay, near Murmansk. His score is now 8 ships and 18,157 tons.

Naval operations: Mediterranean Sea

Hans Walther, in U-52, sinks French freighter SS ESTEREL, 2,574 tons, en route from West Africa to Marseille, of Port Vendres, France. His score is now 25 ships and 59,820 tons.

Naval operations: Indian Ocean

Troubles begin again for HMFM TRENT while en route from Daf-es-Salaam to Durban when a man refuses to go on duty.

Day 985 of the Great War, April 11th 1917

YouTube (The Canadian Corps Takes Vimy Ridge - The Battle of Arras)



Western Front: Battle of Bullecourt, Australians Take 3,000 Losses in One Day

The initials attacks at Arras and Vimy had gone well, but after two days the British spring drive was beginning to lose momentum. When tanks moved up on April 11, they arrived too late and far behind troops they were meant to protect. The Third Army secured Monchy Le Preux that day, but it could not move enough cavalry and artillery across the muddy battlefield to exploit any of the breaches in the German lines before enemy reinforcements arrived.

Photo: First Battle of the Scarpe. Cheerful British troops boarding London omnibuses at Arras on their return from the capture of Monchy-le-Preux (by men of the 37th Division), 11 April 1917



The Australians had a particularly bloody day on April 11 when they attacked the Germans at Bullecourt. Although Gallipoli is forever enshrined in Australian memory, more Australians actually fought and died on the Western Front between 1916 and 1918. Bullecourt proved the bloodiest single day for the Australians during the war, with 3,000 men killed, wounded, or captured. The British attacks were foundering as well, falling to the basic problems that had plagued all large scale offensives so far in the war, those of command, movement, and co-ordination.

Map: Defence of the Hindenburg Line, 27th (Württemberg) Division, 11 April 1917



Mesopotamian campaign

British defeat Turks near Ghaliya (north-east of Deltawa, north of Baghdad).

United States

Major General Leonard Wood declares there are too few volunteers for the U.S. army and so conscription is necessary.

Herbert Hoover officially takes job of U.S. food controller. He urges the nation to eliminate waste and promotes corn bread over flour.

Brazil: Brazil Breaks off Diplomatic Relations with Germany

Germany’s campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare had brought the United States into the warfare, but had so far not caused any other breaks with neutral countries (apart from the effective American client states of Cuba and Panama). This changed, however, on April 5, when the Brazilian ship PARANA, with a cargo full of coffee, was sunk by a submarine in the English Channel, killing 3 Brazilians. Brazil had been attempting to keep strict neutrality under the policy of Foreign Minister Lauro Müller (of German descent), but the sinking forced the government’s hand.

On April 11, Brazil broke off diplomatic relations with Germany, expelling her ambassadors. Müller attempted to maintain neutrality despite this, but events soon passed him by. A week later, mobs burned down German-owned buildings in Porto Alegre, and Müller would be forced to resign in May. Nevertheless, despite the occasional sinking of a Brazilian vessel, Brazil kept out of the war for many months thereafter.

Aerial operations: 48 Squadron mauled again

48 Squadron and their Bristol F2a’s were again in the action when a four strong patrol attacked 4 aircraft from Jasta 11. Those involved were:

Captain David Mary Tidmarsh and 2nd Lieutenant Cator Barclay Holland (A3338)

2nd Lieutenant Robert Edward Adeney and 2nd Lieutenant Leslie Graham Lovell (A3318)

2nd Lieutenant Alan Insell Riley and 2nd Lieutenant Leonard George Hall

2nd Lieutenant George Norman Brockhurst and 2nd Lieutenant Cecil Blockley Boughton (A3323)

In the ensuing fight two enemy aircraft were seen to be brought down by anti-aircraft batteries below, while the other two flew off. At this point Riley and Hall flew off for home apparently having misunderstood a signal from the other aircraft. Then a further four enemy aircraft from Jasta 11 arrived and the three remaining aircraft were shot down. Tidmarsh and Holland were claimed by Leutnant Kurt Wolff, and Brockhurt and Broughton by Leutnant Lothar von Richthofen. Both landed under control in enemy territory and the crews were taken prisoner. Adeney and Lovell were not so lucky as they crashed and were killed after being shot down by Karl Shaeffer.

Naval operations: Cornwall

Wilhelm Amberger, commanding UB-38, sinks British fishing smack PRECEDENT, 36 tons. His score is now 11 ship and 12,075.

Naval operations: English Channel

His Majesty's Trawler AMY, 270 tons, hits a mine laid by Matthias von Schmettow in UC-26 in Le Havre Roads.
Meanwhile, von Schmettow sinks British freighter SS DUCHESS OF CORNWALL, 1,706 tons, bound from London to Le Havre.
UC-26 also torpedoes British freighter SS BRANKSOME HALL, 4,262 tons, en route from Cork to Strasbourg with a load of hay and oats, but the damaged ship makes safe port.
Von Schmettow's score is now 71 ships and 108,332 tons.

Naval operations: North Sea

Gerhard Berger, in U-50, sinks Norwegian barque SARVSFOS, 1,462 tons, carrying a load of oilcake from Savannah to Odense; off Kirkwall. His score is now 16 ships and 59,474 tons.

British freighter SS QUAGGY, 993 tons, travelling in ballast from London to Tyne, hits a mine laid by Otto von Schrader in UC-31 off Robin Hood's Bay. His score is now 22 ships and 17,879 tons.

Naval operations: Norway

Franz Grünert, in U-30, sinks four ships:
Danish freighter SS SAXO, 711 tons, en route from Copenhagen to Grimsby with a load of butter and other stores; off hellisøy.
Danish freighter SS NANCY, 1,325 tons, carrying a load of agricultural products from Copenhagen to Hull, via Bergen; off hellisøy.
Norwegian freighter SS STAR, 818 tons, travelling from Drammen to Bristol with a load of timber and wood pulp. Sources give the location as 68 miles northwest of Fife, Scotland, but this would mean that U-30 would have to travel more than 400 miles in one day.
Norwegian freighter SS SYLFIDEN, 796 tons, bound from Buenos Aires to Flekkefjord, via Sornoway with a load of quebracho (an Argentine hardwood tree); off Holmengrå.
Grünert's score is now 7 ships and 5,585 tons.

Naval operations: Alboran Sea

Leading U-boat ace Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, in U-35, scuttles British, schooner MISS MORRIS , 156 tons, travelling in ballast from Genoa to Malaga; of Garrucha, Spain. His score is now 158 ships and 321,524 tons.

Naval operations: Balearic Sea

Hans Walther, in U-52, sinks Danish schooner ANSGAR, carrying a load of pitch pine from Jacksonville to Barcelona, by setting it on fire. His score is now 26 ships and 60,121 tons.

Naval operations: Mediterranean Sea

Hermann von Fischel, in U-65, sinks British freighter SS TREMORVAH, 3,654 tons, travelling in ballast from Malta to Gibraltar. His score is now 17 ships and 39,958 tons.

Hans Wendlandt, in UB-47, sinks British freighter SS CYFARHFA, 3,014 tons, en route from Oran to Salonika with a general cargo; off Cerigotto Island. His score is now 3 ships and 8,996 tons.

Franz Becker, in UC-20, sinks Italian freighter SS CANDIA, 1,045 tons, rasing his score to 6 ships and 16,150 tons.

Robert Sprenger, in UC-34, torpedoes British freighter SS IMPERIAL TRANSPORT, 4,648 tons, travelling in ballast from Port Said to Philippeville. His score is now 6 ships and 9,915 tons.

Day 987 of the Great War, April 13th 1917

Western Front

South of Bapume-Cambrai road, British capture village and wood of Gouzeaucourt.

North of Scarpe, British capture Vimy, Givenchy-en-Gohelle, Angres and two other villages.

Battle of Vimy Ridge ends, as Canadian troops capture their objectives. Allied forces suffered 3,589 dead and 7,004 wounded.

Photo: Camouflaged Rolls-Royce 40/50 HP armoured cars by the roadside at Tilloy-Les-Mofflaines, 13 April 1917



Photo: Cavalry moving forward past a trench held by British infantry near Monchy-le-Preux, 13 April 1917



Photo: A British tank (No. 790) ditched in a captured German gun pit. British cavalry can be seen massed in the background, 13 April 1917



Mesopotamian campaign

British drive Turks from Seraijik (on Deli-Abbas-Mosul road).

Germany

German government announces it will not intern American citizens currently residing in Germany.

Russia

Russian Provisional Government receives representatives of British Labour and French Socialists.

All-Russian Conference of workmen and soldiers' delegates at Petrograd.

Bolivia

Smarting from territorial loss to Chile in 1879, Bolivia hoped to curry American favor by breaking ties with Germany after Wilson’s declaration of war. Although nothing came of it, the war benefited Bolivia without ever harming the poor, neutral, land-locked country, as Britain increased demand enormously for Bolivian tin. Peru followed step soon after, and also experienced a rush of wealth thanks to Allied imports.

United States: Wilson Creates Committee on Public Information

The war with Germany had been approved by a wide margin in Congress; it was still unclear, however, how much support it had among the American people. Wilson planned an extensive censorship effort, hoping to silence any criticism of the war. Although it was as of yet unclear what measures he could get through Congress (or what would be upheld by the courts), he could first embark on a more positive campaign to actively enlist popular support.

On April 13, by executive order, Wilson created the Committee on Public Information (CPI), to be headed by George Creel, a newspaperman who was a long-standing ally of Wilson, along with representatives from the State, War, and Navy departments. The Creel Committee (as it came to be popularly known) was in charge of America’s propaganda campaign during the war, though they disliked using that word. It was, in Creel’s words, “the fight for the minds of men, for the ‘conquest of their convictions.’” The committee would write news items, create pamphlets and posters and even their own newspaper, and send out 75,000 speakers across the country to promote the war effort. It was “the world’s greatest adventure in advertising,” Creel told his staff.

Although the CPI had no powers of censorship per se, they set the tone for news coverage of the war, and issued voluntary guidelines that were, for the most part, followed by the national press.

Aerial operations: Spider’s Web

Since the declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare back in February one of the main concern of the Navy has been to protect shipping in the English Channel supplying the forces in France. The German U-boats appear to have stepped up their campaign in April with an average of 20,000 tons a day lost.

The Admirality has had no option but to introduce a convoy system to protect shipping. However this will take time to set up and in the meantime various seaplane stations around the coast have stepped up their patrolling.

In an effort to improve the detection of u-boats, the Felixstowe flying-boat station has developed a more systematic approach.

It was known that many of the U-boats, on the way to their hunting grounds, passed near the North Hinder Light Vessel which was used as a navigation mark. Moreover, in an effort to conserve their battery power, most passed the area on the surface.

Map: search pattern for use in the North Sea



A search pattern was therefore devised to allow for the efficient searching of the area around the Light Vessel, which became familiar as the Spider-Web.

The web, centred about the Light Vessel, was an imaginary octagonal figure, sixty sea miles in diameter. There were eight radial arms (each thirty miles long), and chords, joining the arms, ten, twenty, and thirty miles from the centre.

The web enabled about four thousand square miles of sea to be searched systematically. Under normal conditions one flying-boat could search two complete sectors, enclosed by the arms, or a quarter of the whole web, in five hours. Today the first missions were flown using the new system.

As time went on the system was refined by plotting the latest known movements of u-boats to allow searched to be focussed in those areas.

Similar search patterns were introduced around the coast wherever u-boats were known to operate.

Map: search pattern for use in the English Channel



Naval operations: North of Scotland

Otto Dröscher, commanding U-78, sinks Canadian freighter SS STRATHCONA, 1,881 tons, bound from Tyne for Marseille with a load of coal. His score is now 15 ships and 21,772 tons.

Naval operations: Ireland

British freighter SS BANDON, 1,456 tons, carrying a general cargo from Liverpool to Cork hits a mine laid by Kurt Tebbenjohanns in UC-44 off Mine Head. His score is now 15 ships and 13,356 tons.

Naval operations: Celtic Sea

Walter Roehr, in U-84, sinks British freighter SS ARGYLL, 3,547 tons, en route from Port Kelah to Middlesbrough with a load of iron ore. His score is now 15 ships and 36,857 tons.
Roehr also torpedoes British freighter SS Lime Branch, 5,379 tons, carrying a load of nitrate plus general cargo from Callao to London. The damaged ship makes port safely.

Gerhard Schulz, in UC-27, sinks British freighter SS KARIBA, 3,697 tons, heading from Java and Dakar to Falmouth with a load of sugar. He now has 4 ships and 4,263 tons.

Naval operations: English Channel

Wilhelm Amberger, in UB-38, Scuttles British schooner MARIA, 175 tons, travelling from Glasgow to Cherbourg with a load of coal. His score is now 13 vessels and 13,555 tons.

Matthias von Schmettow, in UC-26, sinks French sailboat GAMBETTA, 39 tons, raising his score to 72 vessels and 108,371 tons.

Naval operations: North Sea

Franz Günert, in U-30, sinks 5 ships between Norway and the Shetland Islands:
Norwegian coaster SS BOKN, 336 tons, en route from Bergen to Ardrossan with a load of fish oil.
Russian freighter SS FRIXOS, 2,471 tons, travelling from Port Romanoff to the United Kingdom; torpedoed.
Norwegian coaster SS GAMA, 107 tons, carrying mail from Bergen to Lerwick.
Norwegian barque GLENLORA, 805 tons, travelling in ballast from Stubbekøbing to Savannah, Georgia, United States.
British freighter SS ZARA, 1,331 tons, underway from London to Trondheim with a general cargo.
Grünert's score is now 13 ships and 12,103 tons.

Kurt Bernis, in UC-41, scuttles British trawler STORK, 152 tons east of St Abb's Head, Scotland. His score is now 4 vessels and 2,906 tons.
Bernis also shells and the scuttles BREADALBANE, 112 tons, but the trawler refuses to sink and makes port safely.

His Majesty's Trawler PITSTRUAN, 206 tons, hits a mine laid by Wilhelm Barten in UC-76 off the Noss Head lighthouse, at the very northern tip of Scotland. His score is now 13 vessels and 3,263 tons.

Naval operations: Strait of Gibraltar

Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, in U-35, has moved through the strait and out of the Mediterranean. Off Cap Spartel, Morocco, near Tangier, he sinks three ships:
Italian freighter SS GIUSEPPE ACCAME, 3,224 tons, en route from Buenos Aires to Genoa with a load of maize and general cargo.
Greek freighter SS ODYSSEUS, 3,463 tons, carrying a load of wheat from New Orleans to Marseille.
Italian freighter SS STROMBOLI, 5,466 tons, travelling from Norfolk to Genoa.
Von Arnauld's score is now 162 ships and 336,610 tons.

Naval operations: Durban, South Africa

As HMFM TRENT finishes receiving 1,067 tons of 'Natal coal'. One man is listed as Absent With Out Leave and another shows up drunk and refuses duty. Warrants are read for two men previously refusing duty to be taken ashore to await trial. It is interesting to note that the ship's log mentions the type of coal being taken aboard. Welsh coal is considered the finest in the world, so they note if they have to use "inferior" coal, which is not only not as efficient but also burns much dirtier, creating much more smoke.

Day 989 of the Great War, April 15th 1917

Western Front: “We Are Facing Certain Failure”

The day of Nivelle’s Offensive had nearly arrived. He had promised that French artillery would obliterate German positions on the Aisne, and that after a short battle, the French would break through on a large scale and eject the Germans from France entirely. However, well before the offensive opened, Nivelle’s plan had run into problems. It had been delayed repeatedly, before finally being settled for April 16. The German withdrawal to the Hindenburg line had meant that portions of the planned attack were directed at abandoned positions, forcing a last-minute extension in other sectors; it also meant that, even if a breakthrough were achieved, it would not cut off a vast German salient.

On April 15, the eve of the offensive, it was clear to many on the ground that it was not destined for success. Forty percent of the attacking divisions submitted extremely pessimistic reports of their prospects: “The first German lines are intact – we are facing certain failure,” “Results of bombardment on the first position appear to be inadequate, the second position seems to be untouched.” In areas where the bombardment of the German first line seemed to have worked, the Germans had also occasionally bombarded their own first line (in response to French trench raids), suggesting that the Germans had completely abandoned the position and had thus concentrated on defending their second line.

Even if the French captured the German second and third positions, how they would break through into the open countryside beyond was unclear. This task was given to General Fayolle’s First Army. E.L. Spears, a British liaison officer, would write:

But how, even if everything went as well as the most sanguine hoped, it could overtake and pass the masses of men ahead of it, none attempted to explain. The only possible solution seemed to be that General Fayolle, who was an angel and looked like a cherub, should grow the wings that would have been so becoming to him and, followed by his command, fly over thousands of his compatriots and land in enemy country beyond.

Despite all these obstacles, the bulk of the French troops still had faith in General Nivelle and had confidence that the offensive would succeed as planned within the first 48 hours. One of his most devoted acolytes was General Mangin, “le mangeur des hommes,” who met with Spears on the 15th. The latter described him as:

A small, dark, fierce figure, he stood against a background of enormous Senegalese orderlies…I think of him that day as the embodiment of the soul of war; iron, unflinching resolution, confidence that knows no doubts.

Such unflinching resolution would break the French Army.

Mesopotamian campaign

Turks driven back to Jebel Hamrin (tableland from Tigris to Persian hills).

United States

Appeal of President Wilson to American citizens re: war.

Austria-Hungary

Austrian feelers for separate peace with Russian apparent.

Germany

German bread rations are reduced by one-fourth, but 250 grams of meat will be added per week.

Greece

Venizelist regime in Greek islands in force.

Argentina

Riots occur in Buenos Aires, Argentina as a mob attack the German Legation and Consulate, as well as German newspapers.

Mexico

Mexican government announces it will maintain strict neutrality in the ongoing world war.

Russia

Russian government accuses Germany of using Russian socialists and other radicals to cause disturbances inside the country.

Aerial operations: “Too high”

The first phase of the British offensive on the Western Front came to an end yesterday, and gave RFC command a chance to consider the operation so far. The weather had severely restricted air work, but what had been possible had shown that a change of tactics was desirable. The offensive patrols had too often passed without incident, and it seemed clear that the enemy had, at least temporarily, ceased to fly at great heights. A memorandum, issued from the Royal Flying Corps headquarters on the 15th of April, stated:

“The enemy seems for the moment to have given up, to a certain extent, his method of depending entirely upon height, and his machines and formations are undoubtedly slipping underneath our high patrols without being seen by them. His tactics are of course rendered easier by the cloud layer which, even on fine days, has extended of late somewhere between 5,000 and 7,000 feet. By coming up through or underneath these clouds his machines have on several occasions attacked our photographic and artillery machines unseen by our scouts ‘although large numbers of the latter have been in the area at the time. High patrols must be maintained, otherwise the enemy will undoubtedly adopt his former tactics once again, but they often miss an opportunity through being too high. It must be remembered that the conditions which favour this form of attack by the enemy apply equally in our own case, and that low patrols working under or through the clouds should obtain many opportunities of acting by surprise. While therefore the G.O.C. is very strongly opposed to anything in the nature of a local escort of scouts, he would like Brigadiers to consider carefully the advisability of working some of their patrols at or about the height at which the Corps machines are working, with high patrols up at the same time.”

The Germans it seems were on the defensive and outnumbered. Under instructions from the Supreme Army Command, the majority of single-seater fighters were sent up only when the Royal Flying Corps was most active. Special air protection officers (Luftschutz Offiziere) were stationed well forward to watch and report on the movements of the Royal Flying Corps aeroplanes. Based on their reports the air commanders at the various corps headquarters judged whether to bringing their fighting aeroplanes into action.

Naval operations: Celtic Sea

Wilhelm Werner, commanding U-55, sets fire to Danish schooner ASTREA, 260 tons, bound from Martinique for Le Havre with a load of rum; near the Scilly Isles. His score is now 32 ships and 51,462 tons.

Naval operations: English Channel

British lighthouse tender ALERT hits a mine near the Ruytingen buoy, in the Strait of Dover. No German ship is credited with laying the minefield, so the source is unknown.

Hans Howaldt, in UB-40, sinks Norwegian freighter SS MOHLENPRIS, 638 tons, carrying a load of coal from Llanelly to Bulogne, off Beachy Head. His score is now 22 ships and 8,617 tons.

Naval operations: North Sea

Franz Grünert, in U-30, sinks Norwegian freighter SS PARIS, 1,634 tons, en route from Fredrikstad to Garston with a load of lumber and wood pulp; 100 miles west of Greipengen. His score is now 15 ships and 14,691 tons.

Edgar von Spiegel von und zu Peckelsheim goes on his first patrol in more than a year, in U-93, and sinks Danish schooner FRAM, 105 tons, hauling a load of coal from Hull to Aarhus, with his deck gun. His score is now 6 vessels and 12,399 tons.

Otto von Schrader, in UC-31, sinks British trawler BROTHERTOFT, 155 tons, bringing his total to 29 vessels and 19,814 tons.

Kurt Tebbenjohanns. in UC-44, scuttles three vessels:
British trawler DALMATIAN, 186 tons; crew lost in lifeboats.
Dutch sailing vessel HEIKINA, 157 tons, carrying salt cake from London to Christiania; crew lost in lifeboats, vessel listed as Missing.
British trawler SUTTERTON, 160 tons.
Tebbenjohanns' score is now 18 vessels and 13,869 tons.

Naval operations: Barents Sea

His Majesty's Trawler ARTIC PRINCE, 194 tons, hits a mine laid off the Rybachy Peninsula, near Murmansk, by Curt Bietzen in U-75. The damages vessel manages to make port safely.

Naval operations: Spain

Gerhard Schulz, in UC-27, topedoes British freighter SS GRETASTON, 3,395 tons, en route from Huelva to Garston with a load of copper ore. Twenty-nine lives lost. His score is now 5 ships and 7,659 tons.

Naval operations: Far west of Gibraltar

Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, in U-35, sinks Greek freighter SS PANAGHI DRAKATOS, 2,734 tons, underway from Huelva to New York with an unlisted cargo. His score is now 164 ships and 343,176 tons.

Naval operations: Golfo de Cadiz

Hans Walther, in U-52, fires a round across the bow a Spanish freighter SS CABO BLANCO, 2,163 tons, near Cabo de Santa Maria, Portugal. Shell splinters damage the ship's hull, but she runs away from the submarine.

Naval operations: Aegean Sea

Wilhelm Marschall, in UC-74, sinks British troop ship HMS ARCADIAN, 8,939 tons, transporting troops from Salonika to Alexandria, off Milos Island, with the loss of 277 lives. His score is now 3 ships and 12,885 tons.

Photo: ARCADIAN sinking after being torpedoed. Men can be seen sliding down ropes into the sea



Naval operations: Mediterranean Sea

Gustav Seiß has started a new patrol in a new boat, having transferred from U-73 to U-33. His first sinking is a big one - British troop ship HMS CAMERONIA, 10,963 tons, sunk 150 miles east of Malta. His score is now 17 ships and 122,201 tons.

Leo Prásil, in Austrian U-29, sinks British passenger ship SS MASHOBRA, 8,173 tons, carrying a general cargo from Calcutta to London, 140 miles off Cape Matapan. His score is now 2 ships and 11,659 tons.

Franz Becker, in UC-20, sinks Italian sailboat ALESSIO COCCO, 29 tons, bring his total to 9 vessels and 16,249 tons.

Naval operations: Durban, South Africa

The crew of monitor HMS SEVERN are transferred aboard HMFM TRENT in preparation for towing.

Day 991 of the Great War, April 17th 1917

Western Front: Further French Attacks as Mutinies Begin

Nivelle’s great offensive, had, by nightfall on the 16th, failed to capture the objectives that had been slated for 9AM. Nivelle had promised that if the offensive did not work, it could be quickly called off with minimal casualties, unlike last year’s months-long bloodbath on the Somme. However, it could not be so quickly called off, for a variety of reasons. Foremost was the political one; Nivelle (now with his career on the line) was convinced it would still work, and continued to order attacks on yesterday’s targets–although they were (at least for the time being) more limited in scope, focused on the Chemin des Dames. On a tactical level, the defense and securing of the few positions taken yesterday did require additional attacks to shore them up.

Despite the failures along the Aisne, a major supporting attack scheduled for the 17th went forward anyway. In Champagne, the Fourth Army attacked in the hills around Moronvilliers, east of Rheims. As along the Aisne, they managed to take the first German line but failed to progress further; fighting would continue here for more than a month, but the French would advance no more than two miles.

It was clear to many observers that Nivelle’s days were numbered. Though hardly an impartial observer (having been sidelined concurrently with Nivelle’s rise), General Foch accurately predicted, in a conversation with British General Wilson that Nivelle would soon be sacked in favor of Pétain, “who will play a waiting game until the USA come…say a year hence.”

The infantrymen, who had had such confidence in Nivelle before the offensive, sensed this as well. In an incident that would become the first of many, seventeen men simply abandoned their posts rather than participate in another failed attack along the Aisne. This was to be the first of the “French Mutinies,” in which French soldiers refused to participate in attacks. Despite the name, the incidents were rarely violent–far closer to strikes than mutinies.

Mesopotamian campaign

British on night 17-18 April force passage of Shatt-el-Adhaim (left tributary of Tigris below Samarra).

Sinai and Palestine campaign

The British and their Commonwealth Allies are having another crack at attacking Gaza. The last time the British attempted to storm the gateway to Palestine they suffered a bloody reverse. This time they are doing everything to improve their chances. Battleships are bombarding the Turkish defences. The British are also using new terror weapons not previously seen in this theatre of war. As well as firing gas shells at the Turks, the British are also deploying tanks for the first time in the Middle East. Hopes are high that the Turks will flee in terror at the first sight of these metal leviathans.

The battle is not quite the pushover the British were expecting. The gas attack proves curiously ineffective while the artillery fails to dislodge the Turks. The Allied assault is met with a murderous fire of machine guns and artillery. The tanks fail to strike terror into the hearts of the Turks, who maintain a continuous fire upon the lumbering contraptions.

The Allies nevertheless make some initial gains, but strong Turkish counterattacks prevent a breakthrough. Murray, the British commander, determines that the assaults must continue in the hope of breaking the Turks over the coming days.

Map: Western operations on 17 April 1917



Map: Eastern operations on 17 April 1917



United States

Measures of Senate (U.S.A.) to suppress export of food-stuffs, etc., to Germany.

New York City revokes all night licenses for hotels and restaurants for the duration of the war. Dancing and Drinking must stop at 1 AM.

United Kingdom

The Times & Daily Mail publish (false) stories that a “German Corpse Factory” processes fat from German war dead for industrial use.

Russia: Lenin Arrives in Petrograd

After a long journey via Germany, the Baltic, Sweden, and Finland (then part of Russia), Lenin arrived by train in Petrograd shortly before midnight on April 16. This happened to coincide with the last day of the All-Russian Bolshevik Conference, and they gave him a grand welcome at the train station, along with representatives of the Petrograd Soviet. A band struck up the Marseillaise (not Lenin’s preferred Internationale) as revolutionary sailors stood at attention.

Painting: Lenin’s arrival at the Finland Station, in a Stalin-era painting. Note how Stalin is pictured above Lenin; he was not actually present, and in fact was not overly impressed by Lenin’s April Theses



Lenin was not expecting this sort of reception, and gave a short impromptu speech in the waiting room of the station. His fellow Bolsheviks soon escorted him outside the station, to an armored car that was to lead a procession to the conference. Lenin went up onto the turret of the armored car, silhouetted by a electric light, and started an impassioned speech that continued as the armored car went along the streets of Petrograd. The speech’s text is unknown; here is a short selection from his speech in the waiting room:

Any day now the whole of European capitalism may crash. The Russian revolution accomplished by you has prepared the way and opened a new epoch. Long live the worldwide socialist revolution!

At the meeting of the Bolsheviks that night, Lenin delivered a ninety-minute speech in a similar vein, starting at two in the morning. He was convinced that the “second stage” of the revolution, in which the proletariat would take power. He called for an immediate end to the war, and to not negotiate with the other liberal or socialist parties that merely called for a war without annexation. “To demand of a government of capitalists that it should renounce annexations is a nonsense, a crying mockery.”

The speech was not received well; most thought that Lenin’s urging for a continued revolution (even if he did acknowledge some patience might be required) were ill-thought-out at best. Lenin had not been in the country for years, had not been present in February; even so, they thought, he still must have known that Russia was not ready for such a drastic step, which would only lead to reaction and counter-revolution. Lenin recognized this attitude as his speech was winding down, and concluded: “You comrades have a trusting attitude to the government. If that is so, our paths diverge. I prefer to remain in a minority.” Lenin crystallized these thoughts in a short treatise, his April Theses, which were published in Pravda, after some delay, and with a note explaining that it did not represent the view of the rest of Petrograd’s Bolsheviks.

Naval operations: North Atlantic Ocean, 150 miles west of Ireland

Wilhelm Werner, commanding U-55, sinks British freighter SS CAIRNHILL, 4,981 tons, bound from New York for Le Havre with a general cargo. His score is now 33 ships and 56,443 tons.

Hans Nieland, in U-67, torpedoes British freighter SS KISH, 4,928 tons, carrying a load of nitrate from Iquique to Newport, Wales. KISH is escorted by Azalea class sloop HMS ZINNIA, but ZINNIA has been dispatched to help SS CAIRNHILL, which is under attack by U-55. As soon as the escort is out of sight U-67 attacks KISH. ZINNIA turns back, but too late. Both ships are sunk, and both u-boats escape.
Nieland's score is now 18 ships and 25,965 tons.

Naval operations: North of Ireland

Victor Dieckmann, in U-61, torpedoes Britsh freighter SS ABURI, 3,730 tons, en route from Liverpool to West Africa with a general cargo, 125 miles northwest of Tory Island. His score is now 17 ships and 25,238 tons.

Naval operations: Isle Of Lewis

British freighter SS GISELLA, 2,502 tons, hits a mine laid off the east coast of Lewis by Alfred von Glasenapp in U-80. The damaged ship makes safe port.

Naval operations: Wales

Paul Hundius, in UC-47, scuttles two British schooners off St. Ann's Head:
DANTZIC, 108 tons, carrying coal tar and pitch from Lancaster to Saint Brieuc.
WILLIAM SHEPHERD, 143 tons, sailing from Glasgow to Saint Valery with a load of coal.
Hundius' score is now 34 vessels and 35,241 tons.

Naval operations: English Channel

Hans Howaldt, in UB-40, sinks British hospital ship HMS LANFRANC, 6,287 tons, travelling from Le Havre to Southhampton. His score is now 25 ships and 19,178 tons.

Naval operations: North Sea

Reinhold Saltzwedel, in UC-21, sinks British passenger ship SS DONEGAL, 1,885 tons en route from Le Havre to Southampton; 40 lives lost. His score is now 60 ships and 84,392 tons.

Herbert Pustkuchen, in UC-66, torpedoes British freighter SS CLAN SUTHERLAND, 2,820 tons, carrying a general cargo from Cochin to London; off Start Point. The damaged ship makes safe port.

British freighter SS NIRVANA, 6,021 tons, hauling government stores from Le Havre to Southampton, hits a mine laid by Werner Fürbringer in UC-70. The damaged ship makes safe port.

Naval operations: North Sea

Kurt Bernis, in UC-41, scuttles British fishing vessel U.S.A., 182 tons, off Longstone, bringing his score to 6 vessels and 3,223 tons.

Hubert Aust, in UC-45, sinks two ships off Rattray Head, Scotland:
Danish freighter SS BRETANGE, 1,110 tons, transporting coal from Newcastle to Copenhagen.
British freighter SS CHARLES GOODANEW, 791 tons, en route from Aberdeen to Scapa Flow with Admiralty suppies; mine.
Aust's score is now 6 ships and 4,634 tons.

Wilhelm Schröder, in UC-51, attacks Swedish freighter SS ATALANTA, 1,091 tons, carrying Iron and general cargo from Göteborg to hull, with his deck gun. The damaged ship manages to escape and proceed on her way.

Wilhelm Barten, in UC-76, torpedoes Danish freighter ROBERT, 1,445 tons, en route from Göteborg to Hull with a general cargo. His score is now 14 ships and 4,708 tons.
British passenger ship SS WINIFREDIAN, 10,422 tons, travelling in ballast from Hull to Boston, hits a mine laid by Barten off Noss Head, but the ship is only damaged and makes safe port.

Naval operations: Atlantic Ocean, between Portugal and Morocco

Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, in U-35, sinks 3 British freighter approximately 150 miles west of Gibraltar:
SS BRISBANE RIVER, 4,989 tons, travelling in ballast from Malta to Baltimore.
SS CORFU, 3,695 tons, carrying scrap iron and steel billets from Philadelphia to Genoa.
SS FERNMOOR, 3,098 tons, en route from Baltimore to Genoa with a load of iron and steel.
Von Arnauld's score is now 167 ships and 354,958 tons.

Naval operations: Mediterranean Sea

Kurt Hartwig, in U-32, sinks Italian freighter SS COSTANTE, 3,479 tons, off the Algerian coast. His score is now 39 ships and 55,554 tons.

Naval operations: Durban, South Africa

The crew of HMS SEVERN spend the day preparing hawsers for towing their ship.