Today in World War II History—August 17, 1942: “Carlson’s Raiders”: 221 Marines conduct two-day raid on Makin Island in Gilberts to destroy a radio station; the first US amphibious landing from submarines.
From Sarah Sundin's blog.
Mankin Island through the periscope of the USS Nautilus, the submarine used in the raid.
The raid had goals beyond that, including taking prisoners, gathering intelligence and diverting the Japanese from reinforcing Guadalcanal. In these goals, the mission was a failure. Indeed, it was mixed overall for while half of the Japanese garrison was destroyed, twenty-one Marines were killed and a number left behind due to the confusion of the raid, nine of whom were executed by the Japanese.
The Japanese bombed Port Morseby.
The 8th Air Forces's first raid over Europe took place.
17 August 1942
The Second Moscow Conference came to an end.
