Norway

At the time of its sinking, Rio de Janeiro was carrying a contingent of German soldiers meant for the invasion of Norway, which occurred on the following day, 9 April 1940. Of the 380 onboard, 50 were crew, the rest were soldiers. Of these numbers, almost 200 lost their lives, but 183 survived and were helped by the locals. Survivors told officials they were heading to Bergen, and even though they were wearing military uniforms, the Norwegian government failed to realize that a German invasion was imminent.

During a survey in 2009, the Norwegian Coastal Administration (NCA) located some twenty wrecks in the area. A recent search revealed an additional 15 wrecks, taking the total to at least 35.

Most of the wrecks stem from the post-WW2 scuttling, but there were also some that we could not associate with this campaign, said chief scientist at Norway's Defence Research Institute, Petter Lågstad.

Some of the wrecks were obviously unrelated to the scuttling because of their size and age.

The Halifax bomber was struck by heavy flak and made a successful crash landing 600ft down a water inlet in northern Norway.

The sunken bomber will be protected as a war grave because of the likelihood of the remains of the two airman still being on board. Four of the six-man crew bailed out into a dingy but nothing was ever seen of navigator, Flight Sergeant Albert Columbine, or wireless operator, Arthur Evans. It is believed they drowned when the bomber went down.