http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/17.htm
February 17th, 1941
UNITED KINGDOM:
Churchill to CIGS:
What are the arrangements in British Columbia for dealing with the Japanese colony there should Japan attack? The matter is of course for the Canadian government, but it would be interesting to know whether adequate forces are available in that part of the Dominion. About thirty years ago, when there were anti-Japanese riots, the Japanese showed themselves so strong and so well organised as to be able to take complete control.
Destroyer HMS Avon Vale commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
FRANCE: Céline in La Gerbe, “Are the Jews responsible for this war or not? Let us have the answer down black on white, you acrobatic scribblers.”
TURKEY: Ankara: The heavy emphasis in mutual goodwill and friendly relations in the treaty signed here this afternoon is a reflection of the deep mistrust Turkey and Bulgaria have long felt for each other.
Bulgaria has never ceased to fear that one day Turkey will seek to regain the territory lost after the Great War and in the Balkan Wars before it, while the build-up of German troops in Bulgaria in recent weeks has alarmed the Turks, who are worried that the Germans’ next blow will be delivered in the Balkans and threaten Turkey.
JAPAN: Foreign Minister MATSUOKA Yosuke states that the white race must cede Oceania to the Asiatics. “This region has sufficient natural resources to support from 600 million to 800 million people. I believe we have a natural right to migrate there” says Matsuoka.
AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper HMAS Castlemaine laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.A.: Washington: The Senate starts debating the Lend-Lease Bill.
Light cruiser USS Birmingham laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
ATLANTIC OCEAN:
At 0008, SS Gairsoppa, a straggler from Convoy SL-64, was torpedoed and sunk by U-101 about 300 miles SW of Galway. The master, 81 crewmembers and two gunners were lost.
At 0633, tanker SS Edwy R. Brown, a straggler from convoy HX-107, was torpedoed and sunk by U-103 SW of Iceland. The master, 47 crewmembers and two gunners were lost.
MS Siamese Prince sunk by U-69 at 59.53N, 12.12W. (Dave Shirlaw)
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 536 February 17, 1941
Just after midnight, U-101 sinks British SS Gairsoppa (carrying pig iron, tea, silver ingots and general cargo) 370 miles West of Cornwall, England. 82 crew and 2 gunners are killed (1 survivor makes landfall near The Lizard, Cornwall, on March 1). British tanker MV Edwy R. Brown (carrying fuel from Aruba) is left burning and sinking 100 miles South of Iceland after U-103 hits her with 5 torpedoes between 6.33 and 8.33 AM. 48 crew and 2 gunners abandon ship in 2 lifeboats but they are never found. At 10.12 PM, U-69 sinks British MV Siamese Prince, 200 miles northwest of Outer Hebrides, Scotland. She is 1 day from reaching Liverpool, sailing from New York, USA, via Nassau, Bahamas. A notable passenger is Roy Widdicombe, who has been recuperating in Nassau from 70 days in an open boat after the sinking of SS Anglo Saxon on August 21, 1940. The 48 crew, 1 gunner and 8 passengers take to the lifeboats but all are lost in rough seas.
Free French led by Philippe Leclerc advance on the Italian base at Kufra oasis in the Sahara Desert, Southeastern Libya (consisting of the Buma airfield, a radio station, and the El Tag fort). Italians send out 70 men and 10 AS37 armoured personnel carriers, “Saharan company” motorized infantry, to intercept but Leclerc’s forces brush them aside and lay siege to El Tag fort.
Turkey and Bulgaria sign a friendship agreement in Sofia, Bulgaria. Under pressure from Hitler, Turkey accepts that the movement of German troops through Bulgaria is not an act of war, allowing Germany to prepare for an invasion of Greece. This also blocks any potential British-Turkish alliance, on which Churchill has been relying to control the Balkans.