MS Rigel
Rigel (left) and an escort (right) under attack
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| History | |
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 Norway
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| Name: | MS Rigel |
| Namesake: | The star Rigel |
| Owner: | Bergen Steamship Company |
| Builder: | Burmeister & Wain, Copenhagen |
| Yard number: | 326 |
| Acquired: | August 1924 |
| Fate: | Sunk by aircraft, 27 November 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Cargo steamer |
| Tonnage: | |
| Length: | 367 ft 6 in (112.01 m) |
| Beam: | 51 ft 6 in (15.70 m) |
| Depth: | 22 ft 6 in (6.86 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × 6-cylinder B&W diesel engines, 2,076 ihp (1,548 kW) |
| Speed: | 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) |
MS Rigel was a Norwegian vessel built in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1924. The ship was used as a German prisoner of war (PoW) transport during World War II, and was sunk by British Fleet Air Arm aircraft off Norway on 27 November 1944 with heavy loss of life.
Rigel (3,828 tons) was originally a motorship owned by the Bergen Steamship Company. The vessel was named after the brightest star in the Orion constellation. The ships had been requisitioned by the German occupation authorities in Norway in 1940 to transport Allied PoWs.
According to Norwegian sources Rigel, under the command of Captain Heinrich Rhode with a German crew, sailed under the German flag from Bjerkvik on 21 November 1944 carrying 951 PoWs and 114 guards. At Narvik a further 349 PoWs were loaded plus 95 German deserters and 8 Norwegian prisoners arrested by the German police. The ship then proceeded in convoy with some smaller vessels to Tømmerneset where 948 more PoWs were loaded into the cargo holds. Rigel called next at the port of Bodø.
When the ship left Bodø on 26 November Captain Rhode reported 2838 persons on board. There were 2,248 Soviet, Polish and Serbian prisoners of war with the 95 German deserters and 8 Norwegian prisoners. In addition there were 455 German soldiers and the normal ship's crew of 29 plus three coastal pilots. One of the pilots and one woman crew member were Norwegians.
The convoy, escorted by two small V-Boats of the Kriegsmarine, was discovered by a patrol from the aircraft carrier HMS Implacable on the morning of 27 November, which mistakenly identified Rigel as a troopship. With many people on deck the vessel probably looked like a troopship to the attackers. The convoy was attacked by Supermarine Seafire fighters and Fairey Firefly dive-bombers from Implacable, which was taking part in Operation Provident. The attack took place between the islands of Rosøya and Tjøtta south of the port of Sandnessjøen in Nordland county.
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