Robert Rigby was born in St. Andrew’s, New Brunswick on April 3, 1915, the son of Robert D. Rigby and Charlotte  Elvada (nee Worrell) Rigby. Both his parents, Robert D. and Charlotte, were born in New Brunswick. The family would later move to Sarnia, where father Robert Senior was employed by Anglin-Norcross Ontario Limited. Sometime in 1942, Robert’s mother Charlotte passed away. Robert Charles Rigby, single at the time, and recording his occupation as a hardware salesman, enlisted in Toronto on July 2, 1942 with the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve. He would serve with the RCNV as Ordinary Telegraphist aboard the Canadian destroyer HMCS St. Croix.

The Canadian destroyer HMCS St. Croix (181) operated in the North Atlantic. Aboard the same ship from the Sarnia-Lambton area were Coder Joseph Griffiths Bell of Sarnia and Stoker Second class William Norman Roder of Arkona. The St.Croix was one of the “four-stacker” destroyers acquired by Great Britain from the United States Navy in September 1940, in exchange for sites for air and naval bases on British territory in the Atlantic area (she was formerly the U.S.S. McCook). The St. Croix and six other destroyers transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy at the time were manned immediately by Canadian crews and performed invaluable service on Atlantic convoy duty. Of note, one of those transferred destroyers was the St. Clair. The HMCS St. Croix had distinguished herself in the early days of the Battle of the Atlantic, by patrolling for German submarines, by being credited with two U-boat kills and by picking up many survivors of German U-boat attacks on Allied ships. On September 20, 1943, the St. Croix was to be the first of the destroyers to be lost. Not long prior to the sinking of the St. Croix, Robert was home in Sarnia on leave to visit his father and friends.

In mid-September of 1943, the Allies had a plan to merge two convoys (ONS-18 and ON-202), a combined assemblage of 63 merchant ships, in mid-ocean. A newly formed Canadian support group was on its way to reinforce the slower ONS-18 group, located to the south of Iceland. The Canadian escort group included the British frigate Itchen, corvettes Chambly, Morden and Sackville, along with the destroyers St. Francis and St. Croix. As the convoys closed their gap, the escorts were picking up U-boat signals. Undoubtedly, the U-boats were gathering in large numbers and the wolf pack was maneuvering into position for a night attack. They were about to measure the success of their newest “secret weapon”, the Gnat torpedo, an acoustic torpedo that homed in on the propellers of its prey.

On the night of September 20, 1943, the St. Croix had detached herself from the support group to investigate an aircraft sighting. At 9:51 pm, the German U-boat U-305 struck the HMCS St. Croix with two Gnat torpedoes near her propellers. The ship listed immediately and uncontrollably. To Itchen, a few miles away, she sent the cryptic message, “Am leaving the office.” It was the last word from St.Croix. Seconds later, a third electrically directed torpedo, the final blow, hit the stern of the St. Croix. There was a tremendous explosion, flames shot into the air, and within three minutes, the St. Croix was gone.

Two RN ships from the escort force rushed to the area, to see what had taken place and what could be done. The frigate HMS Itchen signaled; “St.Croix torpedoed and blown up. Forecastle still afloat. Survivors in rafts and boats. Torpedoes fired at me. Doing full speed in vicinity. Will not attempt to P.U. survivors until Polyanthus arrives.” But the RN corvette Polyanthus was herself torpedoed by U-952 just after midnight. Itchen then had to become involved in attempting to locate the attacking U-boat. Later, in the foggy daylight of September 21, the Itchen was eventually able to pick up one Polyanthus survivor and 81 St. Croix survivors, but only after they had been in the very cold water for thirteen hours. Most of those lost had perished in the sea after abandoning the ship.

The few hours of rescue came to an ironic and bitter end two days later. On September 23, 1943 at approximately 2:00 am the German U-boat U-666, using a Gnat torpedo, struck the HMS Itchen. The Itchen exploded with an ear-splitting roar, then vanished into the sea. This time, there were only three survivors, two from the Itchen and one from the St. Croix, Stoker W.A. Fisher of Black Diamond, Alberta. In total, 147 lives were lost from the St.Croix, including Ordinary Telegraphist Robert Rigby.

It was not until October 1, 1943 that the Honourable Angus L. MacDonald, the Minister of National Defence for Naval Services officially announced the sinking of the destroyer St. Croix. No details of the sinking were released, other than the list of names of 147 men who lost their lives, which included Stoker Second class William Norman Roder of Arkona, Sarnians Coder Joseph Griffiths Bell (included in this Project), and Ordinary Telegraphist Robert Charles Rigby.

The sinking of the St.Croix was the heaviest single loss suffered by the Royal Canadian Navy in the war. Twenty-eight year old Robert Charles Rigby has no known grave. His name is inscribed on the Halifax Memorial, Nova Scotia, Canada, Panel 10.

SOURCES: C, D, E, F, L, N, P, T, U, X, Z, 2A, 2C, 2D