Today in World War II History—April 17, 1943

Crew of US Coast Guard Cutter Spencer watch as their depth charge explodes near German U-boat U-175, 17 April 1943 (US National Archives: 26-G-1517)
80 Years Ago—Apr. 17, 1943: US Eighth Air Force sends 107 B-17s to bomb the Focke-Wulf aircraft plant in Bremen, Germany; sixteen B-17s are lost, including ten in the 306th Bomb Group, the heaviest US loss so far.
In convoy HX-233 off Ireland, US Coast Guard cutter Spencer sinks German U-boat U-175; Spencer’s crewmen become the first US servicemen to board an enemy warship underway since the War of 1812.