17th May 1915
Western Front
Battle of Festubert: Ground consolidated.
German aircraft conducts an early morning raid against England, dropping 40 bombs on Ramsgate.
Aftermath of Ramsgate Zepellin raid (Newsreel footage).
Eastern Front
Austro-Germans cross the San.
Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres
Russians occupy Ardjiche on Lake Van (Armenia).
Naval
North Sea
German minefield covering a large area S of 56N, E of 02.30E in the Dogger Bank area laid by old light cruiser Hamburg; two U-boats and a large destroyer took part, supported by High Seas Fleet battlecruisers. To prevent its early discovery, four trawlers on fishing grounds in NW Dogger Bank area were captured by torpedo boat(s) and their crews taken prisoner.
SS Transylvania arrives at Greenock, Scotland; it is the 1st passenger liner since Lusitania to cross the Atlantic.
Political, etc.
Britain publishes the new casualty lists, which includes more than 2000 officers, the largest since the start of the war.
US Marine Corps orders a 30% increase in the number of guards at gunpowder depots to protect against “miscreants, lunatics or cranks.”
Signor Giolitti leaves Rome. Members of the Italian Chamber of Deputies rush to Rome to vote on the entry into the war.
João Pinheiro Chagas is appointed Prime Minister of Portugal. He is then shot & wounded.
