Operation Provident was carried out during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

by the Home Fleet of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

in the period 22–29 November 1944. The purpose of the operation was to carry out attacks on enemy shipping on the coast of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

between latitudes 64° 30′ and 69° North. The operation took place under the personal command of the Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet, Admiral Sir Henry Ruthven Moore, flying his flag in the aircraft carrier . It is remembered for the destruction of in Norway's worst disaster at sea. The force consisted of two groups, designated Force 7 and Force 8. Force 7 comprised the flagship ''Implacable'', , and six destroyers: (Captain (D) 23rd Destroyer Flotilla), , , , and . Embarked on ''Implacable'' were

Naval Air Squadron A naval air squadron (NAS) is the title of naval aviation squadrons in some countries. Poland The Polish ''Morski Dywizjon Lotniczy'' #Naval Air Squadron# was formed in 1920 with two ''Escadrille''s# United Kingdom The squadrons of the Fleet Ai ...

s 801, 880 and 1771 of the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

, equipped with Supermarine Seafire and

Fairey Firefly The Fairey Firefly is a Second World War-era carrier-borne fighter aircraft and anti-submarine aircraft that was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm (FAA). It was developed and built by the British aircraft manufacturer Fairey Avia ...

aircraft. Force 8 comprised the cruiser under the command of Captain D.K Bain RN, two escort carriers and , and five destroyers: (Captain (D) 26th Destroyer Flotilla), , , and .

Objects of the operation

The operation had five objectives: a bombing attack on U-boat depot ships, the mining of Meløysund and Ramsøysund, a fighter attack on Bardufoss airfield, the bombing of ferry services in the

Rørvik Rørvik is a port town and administrative centre in the municipality of Nærøysund in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is on the eastern side of the Vikna archipelago on the island of Inner-Vikna. The town has a population (2022) of 3,385 and a p ...

area, and attacks on shipping between

Lødingen Lødingen ( sme, Lodegat) is a municipality in Nordland county in Norway. Lødingen is located on the southeastern corner of the island of Hinnøya, and is part of the traditional district of Ofoten. The administrative centre of the municipali ...

and

. The U-boat depot listed was the one at

Kilbotn Kilbotn is a village in Harstad Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The village is located about south of the center of the town of Harstad, along the Vågsfjorden on the east side of Hinnøya island. The villages of Fauskevåg a ...

which consisted of the former North-Sea ferry ''Black Watch'' with smaller ships. Bad weather forced the abandonment of this objective, and the depot at Kilbotn was eventually attacked successfully in

Operation Judgement, Kilbotn Operation Judgement was an operation carried out at the end of the Second World War by the Home Fleet of the British Royal Navy in North Norway on 4 May 1945. A force of 44 Fleet Air Arm aircraft attacked a U-boat base south of the town and port ...

on 4 May 1945.

Actions

The force left Scapa Flow on 22 November 1944 but by 24 November heavy weather with winds of up to was hampering operations. The two escort carriers ''Premier'' and ''Pursuer'' suffered weather damage, and in company with ''Devonshire'' and the remainder of Force 8 they returned to Scapa, arriving on the 26th. Meanwhile, ''Implacable'' remained at sea with Force 7. By 27 November the weather had moderated enough for aircraft from ''Implacable'' to search for a convoy reported near the island of

Alsten Alsta (historically, ''Alsten'' or ''Alstein'') is an island in the municipalities of Alstahaug and Leirfjord in Nordland county, Norway. The island is surrounded by the Vefsnfjorden to the east, the Leirfjorden to the north, and the Alsten ...

. Locating the convoy they made an attack on which they identified as a German troopship south of

Sandnessjøen Sandnessjøen is a town and the administrative centre of Alstahaug Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. Sandnessjøen was granted special trading privileges in the late 1600s and it received town status in 1999. Sandnessjøen is located ...

. ''Rigel'' had 450 German soldiers on board, but also a large number of Russian and Serbian prisoners of war in the cargo holds, and there were over 2000 casualties. Asbjørn Jaklin, ''History of North Norway'' (in Norwegian), Gylendal Norsk Forlag, 2004, pp. 261-263

References

{{coord missing, North Sea Provident Provident Provident Provident Provident 1944 in Norway November 1944 events