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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
USS Rigel Patch Contributed by Jim McCoy / USNS Patch Contributed by Mike Smolinski

USNS Rigel (T-AF-58)
ex
 USS Rigel (AF-58) (1955 - 1975)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Quebec - Sierra - India
 NQSI
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Unit Commendation (Op. Provide Comfort 1991) - Navy Expeditionary Medal
Bottom Row - National Defense Service Medal - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal - Southwest Asia Service Medal
Rigel Class Stores Ship:
  • Laid down, 15 March 1954, as a Maritime Administration type (R3-S-4A) hull, under Maritime Administration contract (MA hull 36), at Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp., Pascagoula, MS.
  • Launched, 15 March 1955
  • Commissioned USS Rigel (AF-58), 2 September 1955, CAPT. W. T. Griffin in command
  • Decommissioned in June 1975
  • Placed in service by the Military Sealift Command (MSC) as USNS Rigel (T-AF-58), 23 June 1975
  • Placed out of service, date unknown
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 16 May 1994
  • Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet
  • Custody transferred to the Maritime Administration, 1 April 1998, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Fort Eustis, VA.
  • Sold for scrapping in late 2003 at Able UK, Teeside, England, delivered but never scrapped because of environmental concerns
  • Final Disposition, resold for scrapping to All Star Metals, Brownsville, TX. for $469,626, announced by MARAD 16 July 2008
    Specifications:
    Displacement 15,150 t(fl)
    Length 502'
    Beam 72'
    Draft 29'
    Speed 21 kts.
    USS Complement 350
    Armament four dual mount 3"/50 gun mounts
    Propulsion 600psi cross compound steam turbine, single propeller
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS Rigel (AF-58)
    Rigel 108k USS Rigel (AF-58), at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, VA., 15 May 1955 Photo by Larry Bohn
    Rigel 85k USS Rigel (AF-58) underway in the Mediterranean Sea, date unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, February 1959.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Rigel 82k USS Rigel (AF-58) underway with a new Helicopter Extended Area Platform (HEAP) designed to speed replenishment.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, December 1961.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Rigel 47k Cover of USS Rigel (AF-58) Welcome Aboard pamphlet, 1964-65 Jim McCoy USS Rigel 1964-65
    Rigel 96k USS Rigel (AF-58), pier side, NOB, Norfolk, VA., August 1964 © Richard Leonhardt
    Rigel 86k USS Rigel (AF-58), pier side, NOB, Norfolk, VA., August 1964. Waldron (DD-699) is in the background. © Richard Leonhardt
    Rigel 88k USS Rigel (AF-58), Christmas card, 1964. Jim McCoy USS Rigel (AF-58) 1964-65
    Rigel 82k USS Rigel (AF-58) pier side at Kingston, Jamaica, probably 26 - 27 February 1971 with USS Koelsch (DE-1049), outboard to port. © Richard Leonhardt
    Rigel 781k USS Rigel (AF-58) conducting an UNREP with USS Reeves (CG-24), with a Soviet Mod Kashin class destroyer keeping watch. Pacific Ocean, 15 March 1980. Photo taken from USS Nimitz (CVN-68).
    US Navy Photographic Center photo # 1177954 by PH2 Jim Brown, USN.    		 DCC(SS/SW) David Johnston, USN
    Rigel 94k USS Franklin D.Roosevelt CVA-42) approaches USS Rigel (AF-58) while underway in the Mediterranean Sea in the spring of 1970 to begin a Replenishment at Sea (RAS). Photo by Eugene Williams USS Franklin D. Roosevelt
    Rigel 55k USS Rigel (AF-58),Mediterranean Sea, circa 1970-71 Photo by Steve Gottlief
    Contributed by Jim McCoy
    Rigel 63k USS Rigel (AF-58) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Jim McCoy USS Rigel
    USNS Rigel (T-AF-58)
    Rigel 136k USNS Rigel (T-AF-58), date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo from MSC "Sealift Magazine"    		 Bill Valashinas
    Sirius 92k USNS Rigel (T-AF-58) and USNS Sirius (T-AFS-8) underway in the Mediterranean, circa 1981.
    US Navy photo    		 T.J. Tropea RM1 USN Ret. USNS Sirius
    Rigel 136k USNS Rigel (T-AF-58) moored at Naval Station Subic Bay, P.I. in 1981. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Rigel 36k USNS Rigel (T-AF-58), at Barcelona, Spain, 6 June 1982. Rigel was the first of two built-for-the-purpose, fully refrigerated stores ships. Note helicopter platform aft, armament removed, MSC crest and blue and gold bands on stack. Photo by Fabio Peņa

    For more photos and information about USS Rigel, see;
  • Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
  • Commanding Officers
    • Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    No Information Available
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2009 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 18 December 2009