After the factory was reported to have been rebuilt in the summer of 1943 a new saboteur attack was planned, but eventually scrapped in favour of an air strike. On 16 November 1943 161 United States Army Air Forces B-17 and B-24 heavy bombers attacked the Vemork heavy water plant, and another 12 bombers the nitrogen plant at nearby Rjukan. The attack had not been cleared with the Norwegian government in exile in London and led to a diplomatic crisis between the Norwegian and other Allied governments. Of particular concern for the Norwegian government was the targeting of the Rjukan nitrogen plant, as it supposedly only produced products for Norwegian agriculture. Twenty-one civilian lives were lost in the bombing raid. Following the bombing raid the Germans decided to move the production to Germany, leading the British War Cabinet to order Norwegian saboteur Knut Haukelid to sink the Norwegian ferry SF "Hydro" carrying the containers of heavy water across Lake Tinn. The ferry was sunk with hidden explosives on 19 February 1944, going down with of heavy water and killing 14 Norwegian civilians, ending the struggle for the Norwegian heavy water. The 2015 TV mini-series "The Heavy Water War" produced by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation also portrays Rønneberg's role in the heavy water operations.