[Sailor Steve]

January 25, 1917

Western Front:
Southwold and Wangford, on the Suffolk coast, are shelled this night by German destroyers; no casualties.

Germans attack at four points northwest of Verdun, and carry a mile of French trenches at Hill 304.



Eastern Front:
Fierce fighting near Lake Babki; Russian counter-attacks fail.



Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres:
Enemy trenches captured on Hai salient southwest of Kut; Turkish counter-attacks recover a little ground.



Air War:
1005 English ace Selden Long, flying DH.2 A305, shoots down an LVG two-seater for victory number 7. His victims are likely Lt E. Erdmann and Lt G. Kallenbach, reported killed this day.

1030 French ace Alfred Heurtaux, in a SPAD VII, shoots down an "Enemy Aircraft" for victory number 19.

1035 Canadian RFC pilot Alfred McKay, in DH.2 7884, shoots down an Albatros D.II for victory number 4. Flgr Gustav Kinkel of Jasta Boelcke is captured.

1230 English pilot Douglas Hugh Moffatt Carbery, in RE.8 A81 with 2nd Lt H.A.D. MacKay as gunner, shoots down a German two-seater for victory number 1.

1425 English ace John Quested, in FE.2b A5442 with 2nd Lt H.J. Dicksee as gunner, shoots down a German fighter for victory number 8. This is Quested's last victory. He will be wounded twice, but serve through the war in various capacities. After the war he will continue in the RAF for a year, then retire to a life as a farmer, and die in 1948.

1510 English observer William Gilson, riding in FE.2d A32 with Lt T.C. Lucas as pilot, shoots down a Halberstadt D.II for victory number 3.

French pilot Andre René Celestin Herbelin, flying a Nieuport 17, shoots down an Aviatik two-seater for victory number 1.

German pilot Wilhelm Seitz, in an Albatros D.II, shoots down a BE.2d for victory number 2.



Northern Ireland:
British armed merchant cruiser HMS Laurentic, 14,892 tons, bound from Liverpool for Halifax, Nova Scotia with a load of gold bullion, hits a mine laid off Malin Head by Alfred von Glasenapp in U-80. There are 345 casualties, with 121 passengers and crew surviving. All of those aboard got into the lifeboats safely. The ones who were lost all froze to death in the boats, the low temperature being about -13° C (9° F).

The gold was to pay for war supplies, and consisted of 3,211 ingots weighing 43 tons, amounting to £5 million (£390 million today). Efforts to recover the gold ran from 1917 to 1924, with an additional search in 1934, recovered 3,189 of the gold ingots, with only 22 still missing today.

Glasenapp's score is now 4 ships and 20,455 tons.



North Sea:
Otto von Schrader, in UC-31, stops and scuttles Danish freighter SS O.B. Suhr, 1,482 tons, travelling from Shields to Copenhagen with a general cargo. His score is now 11 ships and 8,802 tons.



Bay of Biscay:
Reinhold Saltzwedel, in UC-21, stops and scuttles Norwegian freighter SS Myrdal, 2,631 tons, en route from Cardiff to Genoa with a load of coal. His score is now 29 ships and 44,505 tons.

French freighter SS Vidar, 1,543 tons, carrying a load of coal from Cardiff to Chantenay, is wrecked off Île de Croix.



Mediterranean Sea:
Max Valentiner, in U-38, torpedoes French freighter SS Sylvie, 2,591 tons, carrying 3,800 tons of coal from Bizerte to Salamis. His score is now 124 ships and 175,139 tons.



Simonstown, South Africa:
Light cruiser HMS Hyacinth conducts engine trials.



Durban, South Africa:
0800 Aboard HMFM Trent the firemen are mustered and ordered to go on duty. All of them refuse, giving personel shortage as the reason.
0900 Able and ordinary seamen are mustered, also refuse to go on duty.
1230 Four men are arrested and taken to shore prison. Entire crew is mustered and six ringleaders of the mutiny are also arrested and taken ashore. The rest of the crew agree to return to duty, but then try to rush the gangway. They are stopped by an armed naval guard.
1430 Two more men are arrested.
1500 An army guard join the navy guard on the dock.
1530 Five more men are arrested. Later in the day two new firemen are signed on.