April 23, 1917
Air War:
0630 Canadian RNAS pilot George Benson Anderson, flying Sopwith Pup N5194, shoots down an Albatros D.III for victory number 1.
0630 New Zealand RNAS pilot Harold Francis Beamish, in Sopwith Pup N6202, shoots down an Albatros D.III for victory number 1.
0630 Canadian RNAS ace John Malone, in Sopwith Pup N6208, shoots down an Albatros D.III for victory number 6.
0645 English RFC ace Albert Ball, in Nieuport 17 B1522, shoots down an Albatros two-seater for victory number 32.
0715 John Malone scores his second kill of the day, shooting down another Albatros D.III for number 7.
0745 John Malone gains number 3 of the day, another Albatros D.III for number 8.
0800 New Zealand RNAS pilot Thomas Culling, flying Sopwith Triplane N4333, shoots down a German two-seater for victory number 3.
0800 Australian RNAS ace Roderic Dallas, in Sopwith Triplane N5436, shoots down and Albatros two-seater for victory number 12.
0814 German ace Kurt Schneider, in an Albatros D.III, shoots down an FE.2b for victory number 8.
1030 Canadian RNAS pilot Lloyd Breadner, in Sopwith Pup N6181, shoots down a Gotha G.II bomber for victory number 4.
1140 English RFC pilot Herbert Ellis, in Nieuport 23 A6789 and Lt K. MacKenzie, in Nieuport 17 B1548, share the downing of a Halberstadt two-seater. Number 2 for Ellis, unknown for MacKenzie.
1145 Albert Ball scores his second kill of the day. Has said disparaging things about the new SE.5 fighter, but he decides to give on a chance. In A4850 he shoots down an Albatros D.III for victory number 33. This is the first victory for the SE.5.
1200 German pilot Arthur Schorish, flying an Albatros, shoots down an unidentified "Sopwith" for victory number 4.
1200 German ace Paul von Osterroht, in an Albatros D.III, shoots down a "Sopwith" for victory number 7.
1800 German 7-kill ace Paul von Osterroht, in an Albatros D.III, is shot down and killed in a fight with Sopwith Pups of No 3 Squadron RNAS. I can find no record of who was awarded the victory.
1205 German ace Manfred von Richthofen, in Albatros D.III 2253/17, shoots down BE.2f A3168 for victory number 47. 2nd Lt Eric Arthur Welch and Sgt Amos George Tollervey are both killed.
Quote:
I observed an artillery flyer, approached him unnoticed, and shot at him from the closest range, until his left wing came off. The machine broke to pieces and fell near Mericourt.
-Manfred von Richthofen
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1210 German ace Lothar von Richthofen, in an Albatros D.III, shoots down BE.2g A2876 for victory number 10. 2nd Lt Charles Maurice Crow is killed, 2nd Lt Eustace Thomas Turner is wounded; the plane coems down on their own side of the lines.
1520 English RFC pilot James Martin Child, flying SPAD VII B1537, shoots down an Albatros two-seater for victory number 1.
1530 Canadian RFC ace Billy Bishop, in Nieuport 23 B1566, shoots down an Albatros two-seater for victory number 10.
1559 Billy Bishop gains his second kill of the day, shooting down an Albatros D.III for number 11.
1630 Welsh RFC pilot Arthur Jones-Williams, in Nieuport 23 A6721, claims two Albatros D.IIIs for victories 2 and 3.
1730 Lloyd Breadner scores his second kill of the day, shooting down an Albatros D.III for number 5.
1730 Canadian RNAS pilot Alfred Carter, flying Sopwith Pup N6179, shoots down an Albatros D.III for victory number 2.
1730 Irish RNAS pilot Francis Casey, in Sopwith Pup N6182 shoots down an Albatros D.III for victory number 5.
1730 Canadian RNAS pilot Harold Kerby, in Sopwith Pup N6160, is credited with two Albatros D.IIIs for victories 3 and 4.
1730 English RFC pilot Edmund Zink, in FE.2b A823 with oberserver 2nd Lt George Beaumont Bate, shoots down an Albatros D.III for victory number 4.
1800 Alfred Cartter scores his second victory of the day, shooting down an Albatros D.III for number 3.
1800 German 7-kill ace Paul Osterroht is shot down and killed in a fight with Sopwith Pups of No 3 Squadron RNAS. No one is sure who won the actual victory, though Alfred Carter is in the right place at the right time.
1820 German pilot Hermann Göring, in Albatros D.III 2049/16, shoots down FE.2b A823 for victory number 4. 2nd Lt Edmund Leonard Zink is wounded, but manages to land the plane on his own side of the lines. 2nd Lt George Beaumont Bate is unharmed.
1900 German ace Kurt Schneider, flying an Albatros D.III, claims an FE.2b and a DH.2 for victories 9 and 10.
1900 Canadian RNAS pilot Arthur Whealy, in Sopwith Pup N6194, shoots down an Albatros D.III for victory number 2.
1925 German ace Heinrich Gontermann, in an Albatros D.III, shoots down an RE.8 for victory number 15.
French pilot Jean Derode, in a Nieuport, shoots down a German two-seater for victory number 3.
English RFC pilot Fred Holliday and observer Anthony Wall shoot down an Albatros D.III. Victory number 2 for both.
Four Bristol F.2as share a kill over an Albatros D.III:
Roger Bolton Hay, number 1; Unknown observer, unknown.
Fred Holliday, number 3; Anthony Wall, number 3.
William Price, number 3; Maurice Benjamin, number 3.
William Winkler, number 2; Ernest moore, number 2.
French pilot Edmond Pillon, in a Nieuport, shoots down LVG C.V 5155/16 for victory number 3. No details on crew.
North Atlantic Ocean, far west of Ireland:
Gerhard Berger, commanding
U-50, sinks two British freighters 200 miles west of Fastnet Rock:
SS
Dykland, 4,291 tons, bound from Halifax for Falmouth with a load of timber.
SS
Oswald, 5,185 tons, heading from Sabine, Texas to Liverpool with a load of sulphur.
Berger's score is now 21 ships and 76,996 tons.
North of Ireland:
Hans Walther, in
U-52, stops and scuttles Norwegian barque
Acadia, 1,556 tons, travelling in ballast from Dublin to Delaware Breakwater. His score is now 32 ships and 73,335 tons.
Hans Adam, in
U-82, scuttles Norwegian sailing ship
Marita, 1,759 tons, en route from Buenos Aires to Arhus with a load of Maize. His score is now 11 ships and 17,874 tons.
Ireland:
Paul Hundius, in
UC-47, sinks British freighter SS
Imataka, 1,776 tons, heading from Demerera to Le Havre and Liverpool with a load of sugar, rum and meat. His score is now 38 ships and 41,736 tons.
Hundius also attacks British schooner
Tommi, 138 tons, travelling from Charlestown, Cornwall to Preston with a load of sugar, but the damaged vessel makes safe port.
Irish Sea:
His Majesty's Trawler
Rose II, 213 tons, hits a mine laid off Belfast by Herbert Pustkuchen in
UC-66, raising his score to 80 vessels and 103,728 tons.
Celtic Sea:
Hans Rose, in
U-53, torpedoes British freighter SS
Eptapyrgion, 4,307 tons, carrying a load of oats and meat from Montevideo to Falmouth. His score is now 34 ships and 82,244 tons.
Victor Dieckmann, in
U-61, sinks two ships off the Scilly Isles:
Danish barque
Calluna, 1,405 tons, heading from Aalborg and Cardiff for New York with a load of chalk.
British freighter SS
Lena, 2,463 tons, carrying a load of government supplies from Huelva to Bristol. Lost with all 25 crew, listed as Missing.
Dieckmann's score is now 21 ships and 37,339 tons.
English Channel:
Belgian fishing boat
Cenobic, 16 tons, hits a mine laid by Hans Valentiner in
UC-71 off Le Treport. His score is now 45 vessels and 36,570 tons.
North Sea:
Karlgeorg Schuster, in
U-60, stops and scuttles Danish sailing ship
Svanen, 1,807 tons, en route from Baltimore to Aarhus with a load of maize; off Muckle Flugga, Shetland Islands. His score is now 15 ships and 47,017 tons.
Kurt Bernis, in
UC-41, sinks Norwegian coaster SS
Stegg, 463 tons, carrying a load of pit props from Arendal to Tyne; 60 miles off the Shetland Islands. His score is now 13 ships and 6,660 tons.
Kurt Tebbenjohanns, in
UC-44, sinks 3 ships off the east coast of Scotland:
British freighter SS
Auriac, 871 tons. bound from Rouen for Leith with a load of empty drums; off St. Abb's Head.
Danish freighter SS
Baron Stjernblad, 991 tons, en route from Hull to Copenhagen with a general cargo; torpedoed off Eyemouth.
Danish freighter SS
Scot, 1,564 tons, travelling in ballast from Copenhagen to Burntisland; scuttled off St. Abb's Head.
Tebbenjohanns' score is now 26 ships and 19,320 tons.
Erich Haecker, in
UC-79, takes Danish freighter SS
Ydun, 645 tons, as a prize. The Prize Court declares it illegal and releases the ship to its owners.
Bay of Biscay:
Gustav Buch, in
UC-36, sinks Italian freighter SS
Savio, 1,922 tons, hauling a load of coal from Clyde to Genoa, off Belle Ile, Brittany. His score is now 11 ships and 13,561 tons.
Atlantic Ocean, 50 miles west of Tangier:
Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, in
U-35, sinks Italian freighter SS
Bandiera E Moro, carrying a load of iron ore from Spain to Glasgow. His score is now 172 ships and 369,707 tons.
Aegean Sea:
Fritz Wernicke, in
UB-42, sinks Italian sailboat
Boro, 15 tons, east of Rhodes. His score is now 6 vessels and 3,995 tons.