Zwaardvisch Escapes; More Drone Ops

TUE 17 OCT 1944
Pacific
TG 38.4 (Rear Admiral Ralph E. Davison) attacks Japanese installations at Legaspi and Clark Field, Luzon.

Naval force (Rear Admiral Arthur D. Struble) lands army troops (6th Ranger Battalion) on Suluan and Dinagat Islands at the entrance to Leyte Gulf to destroy Japanese installations that could provide early warning of U.S. forces entering the gulf. Unfortunately, the Suluan Island unit transmits a warning, prompting Admiral Toyoda Soemu, Commander in Chief Combined Fleet, to order operation SHO-1 for defending the Philippines against American invasion and bringing about a decisive battle (see 23-25 October).

Submarine Narwhal (SS-167) lands supplies on northwest coast of Tawi Tawi, P.I.

Motor minesweeper YMS-70 is sunk in storm off Leyte, 10°56'N, 125°12'E.

During the third day of sweeping operations in Ngulu Atoll, Western Carolines, light minelayer Montgomery (DM-17) is damaged by Japanese mine while anchoring, 10°56'N, 125°12'E.

Special Air Task Force (STAG 1) operations continue in Southwest Pacific as four TDRs are launched against Japanese installations near East Rabaul. One of the four hits the objective; a second hits a target of opportunity; a third is lost due to the failure of a tube in the drone receiver; a fourth may have been shot down (light and inaccurate antiaircraft fire is noted).

Dutch submarine Zwaardvisch sinks Japanese minelayer Itsukushima and damages minelayer/netlayer Wakatake off Bawean Island, N.E.I., 05°26'S, 113°48'E. Submarine chaser Ch 26 carries out determined counterattack, but Zwaardvisch escapes.

British carrier-based planes sink Japanese collier Ishikari Maru off Nicobar.