[Sailor Steve]

June 8, 1917

Air War:
0630 English RFC pilot Philip Fullard, flying Nieuport 23 B1553, shoots down an Albatros D.V for victory number 5.

0730 German ace Hermann Göring, in Albatros D.III 2049/16, shoots down Nieuport 17 B1656 for victory number 8. 2ne Lt Frank Dolloway Slee is taken prisoner.

0745 Canadian RFC pilot William Durrand, Jr and English observer Edward Sayers, in FE.2d A1965, shoot down an Albatros D.III. Victory number 1 for Durrand, number 5 for Sayers.

0830-0945 Canadian RFC ace Reginald Hoidge, in SE.5 A8914, shoots down a German two-seater for victory number 9.

1125 German pilot Hans Bottler, flying an Albatros D.III for MFJ1, shoots down Sopwith Triplane N5491 for victory number 1. Six-victory New Zealand RNAS ace Thomas Culling is killed.

1145 English RNAS pilot Harold Stackard, flying Sopwith Triplane N5451, shoots down an Albatros D.III for victory number 3.

1245 English RFC pilot Louis Jenkin, in Nieuport 17 B1547, shoots down an Albatros D.III for victory number 5.

1420 German pilot Konrad Mettlich, in an Albatros D.III, shoots down Sopwith Pup A6207 for victory number 1. 2nd Lt A.G. Robertson is killed.

1422 Konrad Mettlich scores a second victory, Sopwith Pup B1745. 2nd Lt A.V. Shirley is killed.

1910 German ace Max von Müller, in an Albatros D.III, shoots down Sopwith Triplane N5293 for victory number 17. Sub-Lt Thomas Reid Swinburne is listed as Missing.



North Atlantic Ocean, far west of Ireland:
Ernst Wilhelms, commanding U-69, sinks two British freighters:
SS Enidwen, 3,594 tons, bound from Cuba for Queenstown with a load of sugar.
SS Saragossa, 3,541 tons, en route from Halifax to Queenstown with a load of sugar.
Wilhelms' score is now 27 ships and 82,932 tons.

Heinrich Jeß, in U-96, sinks British freighter SS Orator, 3,563 tons, heading from Pernambuco to Liverpool with a general cargo. His score is now 14 ships and 25,474 tons.



Ireland:
Wilhelm Werner, in U-55, tprpedoes British tanker SS Russian Prince, 4,158 tons, carrying a load of oil to Queenstown. The damaged ship makes port safely.



English Channel:
Claus Lafrenz, in UB-18, scuttles four British fishing vessels off Start Point:
Cariad, 38 tons.
Ocean's Pride, 42 tons.
Onward, 39 tons.
Torbay Lass, 38 tons.
Lafrenz's score is now 52 vessels and 52,149 tons.



Max Viebeg, in UB-32, torpedoes Norwegian freighter SS Vinaes, 1,107 tons, carrying a load of coal from Swansea to Rouen. His score is now 21 ships and 29,625 tons.



Hans Howaldt, in UB-40, uses his deck gun to sink British brig Phantom, 251 tons, en route from Cardiff to Fécamp with a load of coal; off Cape de la Heve, France. His score is now 34 vessels and 42,015 tons.



Skagerrak:
Karl Ruprecht begins his U-boat career in UB-33, sinking Norwegian sailing vessel Kragerö, 550 tons, headed from Norway to Britain with a load of pit props.



Barents Sea:
Georg Schmidt, in U-28, uses his deck gun to attack British freighter SS Manchester Engineer, 4,465 tons, en route from Manchester to Archangelsk with a load of munitions. The damaged ship reaches port safely.
Schmidt stops and scuttles Norwegian fishing vessel Sverre II, 44 tons, raising his score to 9 vessels and 7,913 tons.



Bay of Biscay:
Ernst Voigt, in UC-72, torpedoes French troopship Sequana, 5,557 tons, carrying troops and a general cargo from Buenos Aires via Dakar to Bordeaux. Most of the troops are from Senegal and do not speak French, so do not understand the abandon ship orders and in the confusion 207 people are lost, including 189 African soldiers. Voight's score is now 68 ships and 34,855 tons.



West of Gibraltar:
Walter Forstmann, in U-39, sinks three ships and two motor launches off Cape Spartel:
British freighter SS Huntstrick, 8,151 tons, carrying stores and troops from London to Salonika.
British freighter SS Isle of Jura, 3,809 tons, en route from Middlesbrough to Savona with munitions and coal.
British motor launch ML-540, 37 tons.
British motor launch ML 541, 37 tons.
Italian freighter SS Valdieri, 4,637 tons, bound from New Orleans for Genoa with a load of munitions.
Forstmann's score is now 157 ships and 328,618 tons.



Golfe du Lions:
Ernst Krafft, in U-72, sinks two ships off southern France:
British freighter SS Cheltonian, 4,426 tons, travelling in ballast from Genoa to Oran.
Italian sailing vessel Felicina, 165 tons.
Krafft's score is now 14 ships and 24,634 tons.