[Sailor Steve]

January 4, 1917

Air War:
1515 German pilot Friedrich Mallinckrodt, flying an Albatros D.I or D.II, shoots down a Sopwith 1½ Strutter for victory number 2.

1615 German ace Manfred von Richthofen, in Albatros D.II 491/16, wins a fight with Sopwith Pup N5193 for victory number 16. Canadian Flt Lt Allan Switzer Todd, RNAS, is killed.

Canadian RNAS pilot Edward Grange, in Sopwith Pup N5194, shoots down three Albatros D.IIs for victories 2, 3 and 4.



Celtic Sea:
Otto Wünsche, commanding U-70, stops Russian barque Ruby, 949 tons, bound from Darien for Fleetwood, and sinks her with his deck gun. His score is now 41 ships and 52,325 tons.

Hans Adam, in U-82, sinks Italian freighter SS Calabro, 1,925 tons, en route from Cartagena to Middlesbrough. His score is now 8 ships and 13,367 tons.



English Channel:
Claus Lafrenz, in UB-18, sinks Danish freighter SS Næsborg, 1,547 tons, carrying a load of coal from Sunderland to Bayonne. His score is now 27 ships and 26,719 tons.



North Sea:
British freighter SS Lonclara, 1,294 tons, hits a mine laid at the mouth of the River Wear by Otto von Schrader in UC-31. His score is now 10 ships and 7,320 tons.



Moray Firth:
His Majesty's Trawler Teal, 165 tons, is wrecked at the East Mucks, Buckie, Scotland.



Bay of Biscay:
Heinrich Küstner, in UB-39, sinks French fishing bessel Gabrielle Francois, 37 tons, at the mouth of the Gironde River, raising his score to 38 ships and 35,870 tons.



Portugal:
Heinrich Jeß, in U-79, sinks Japanese freighter Chinto Maru, 2,592 tons, off the Gulf of Cadiz. His score is now 10 ships and 18,462 tons.



Gulf of Cadiz:
Otto Launburg, in UC-37, sinks 4 Allied ships:
French schooner Liberté, 166 tons, bound from Cardiff for Marseilles with a load of coal; sunk with deck gun.
Italian freighter SS Luigi Campa, 3,988 tons, travelling from Philadelphia to Gibraltar with a load of wheat.
Russian sailing vessel Seemel, 209 tons, en route from Seville to Faro.
British freighter SS Wragby, 3,641 tons, carrying a load of coal from Barry to Gibraltar; scuttled.
Launburg's score is now 10 ships and 19,705 tons.