USS Rigel (AF-58)

History
United States
Ordered: R3-S-4A hull, MA hull 36
Laid down: 15 March 1954
Launched: 15 March 1955
Commissioned: 2 September 1955
Decommissioned: June 1975
In service:
  • as USNS Rigel (T-AF-58),
  • 23 June 1975
Out of service: 1992
Struck: 16 May 1994
Fate: scrapped in late 2008
General characteristics
Displacement: 15,150 tons(fl)
Length: 502 ft (153 m)
Beam: 72 ft (22 m)
Draught: 29 ft (8.8 m)
Propulsion: 600psi cross compound steam turbine, single propeller
Speed: 21 kts.
Complement: 350 (USS crew)
Armament: four dual mount 3"/50 gun mounts

USS Rigel (AF-58) was an Rigel-class stores ship acquired by the U.S. Navy. Her task was to carry stores, refrigerated items, and equipment to ships in the fleet, and to remote stations and staging areas.

The second ship to be named Rigel by the Navy, AF-58 was laid down under Maritime Administration contract 15 March 1954 by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp., Pascagoula, Mississippi; launched 15 March 1955; sponsored by Mrs. Austin K. Doyle; and commissioned 2 September 1955, Capt. W. T. Griffin in command.

Operating as an improved vessel design

The first of a new class of high-speed, large-capacity, fully refrigerated stores issue ships, Rigel completed shakedown out of Newport, Rhode Island, and her homeport of Norfolk, Virginia. In February 1956, she sailed south for the first time; underwent further training in Cuban and Puerto Rican waters; and into the fall provided logistic support along the mid-Atlantic seaboard and in the Caribbean. In late fall (14 November-9 December), she completed her first U.S. 6th Fleet deployment which included her initiation in her primary mission - replenishment at sea.

First Med cruise

USS Rigel (AF-58), circa 1958.

During the winter of 1957, she spent 2 months in the Caribbean, then sailed east, in May, for 4 months in the Mediterranean. January 1958 brought a return to the Caribbean, followed in March by the initiation of a regular schedule of 6-week replenishment deployments to the Mediterranean with intervening periods spent in loading, upkeep, training, and shipyard overhauls. On her second and third deployments of that year, she directly supported units of the U.S. 6th Fleet sent to Lebanon at the request of that country's president.

Rigel maintained her regular Mediterranean logistic deployment schedule through the 1960s. Interruptions came with the replenishment of units engaged in good will visits to West Africa (January 1961); exercises off Iceland and Canada (June 1962, June 1965); and crises in the Caribbean - the Cuban Quarantine (November 1962) and the Dominican Republic Crisis (May 1965).

Rigel was fitted out with an amidships helicopter platform in 1961, thus providing her with a vertical replenishment capability. Two years later, that platform was replaced with one on her fantail to simplify the pilots' problems when landing aboard or conducting replenishments. Rigel served until decommissioned on 23 June 1975.

Assigned to the Military Sealift Command

Rigel was placed in service by the Military Sealift Command (MSC) as USNS Rigel (T-AF-58), 23 June 1975. See upper right picture with her forward guns removed and blue and gold painted stack stripes. Note: The hull number "58" was painted back on her bow hull a short time later (by 1981), replacing the name you see in this photo. This "Queen of the Reefers" continued operating with the MSC, resupplying US Navy ships until 1992.

Final decommissioning, later years, and fate

Struck from the Navy list on 16 May 1994, the store ship was transferred to the Maritime Administration. The Rigel was transferred to her MARAD berth on 1 April 1998 in Fort Eustis, VA, where she proudly served as part of the James River Reserve Fleet until her final voyage in 2008. Final Disposition [2008]: sold to All Star Metals for $469,626 and scrapped in Brownsville, TX.

Military awards and honors

Rigel’s crew was eligible for the following medals:

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.


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