USS ''Aroostook'' (ID-1256/CM-3/AK-44) was the Eastern Steamship Company's ''Bunker Hill'' converted for planting the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

North Sea Mine Barrage The North Sea Mine Barrage, also known as the Northern Barrage, was a large minefield laid easterly from the Orkney Islands to Norway by the United States Navy (assisted by the Royal Navy) during World War I. The objective was to inhibit the m ...

. ''Bunker Hill'' was built in 1907 at

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

for passenger service between

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. ''Bunker Hill'' was one of three sister ships, the others being ''Massachusetts'' and , delivered as passenger/cargo ships by

William Cramp & Sons William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company (also known as William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Company) of Philadelphia was founded in 1830 by William Cramp, and was the preeminent U.S. iron shipbuilder of the late 19th century. Company hi ...

in 1907. They were among the eight ships acquired by the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

in November 1917. ''Bunker Hill'' and ''Massachusetts'' were converted to

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing controll ...

s at the

Boston Navy Yard The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. It was established in 1801 as part of the recent establishment of t ...

. ''Old Colony'' was used as a district scout until sent across the Atlantic and turned over to the British in 1919.

Design and Construction

Three new ships for the New England Navigation Company, controlled by the New Haven railroad interests, were designed to compete with the Metropolitan Line vessels and ''Harvard'' using the outside, offshore passage yet be capable of using the inside passage through sounds. The three vessels were designed by the Quintard Iron Works Company of New York with heavy construction for offshore operation and characteristics necessary for inshore operation. The main deck, with the exception of machinery was designed for 1,500 tons of cargo. The second deck had officers quarters and a few passenger staterooms with more officers quarters on the upper deck. ''Massachusetts'' and ''Bunker Hill'' had reciprocating engines driving twin screws while the later ''Old Colony'', otherwise identical, was designed with Parsons turbines driving triple screws. ''Bunker Hill'' was laid down as hull number 343 by

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Pennsylvania and launched 26 March 1907. The proposed name ''Commonwealth'' had been changed to ''Bunker Hill'' at the request of Boston's mayor whose daughter christened the ship. The ship was registered with U.S. Official Number 204264, signal KWDT and home port of New London, Connecticut. ''Bunker Hill'' and ''Massachusetts'' underwent conversion in 1911 from primarily freight to passenger service. The conversion changed registered tonnage from , to , and depth of hold from to . Registered crew size went from 38 to 167.See photo of ''Massachusetts'' and ''Bunker Hill'' during conversion on page 39 of ''Shipbuilding at Cramp & Sons'' (reference Farr et al.)

Service history

On 2 October 1907 the tug was sunk while assisting ''Bunker Hill'' when ''Bunker Hill''s propeller slashed her hull, in the New York City area.

World War I for USS ''Aroostook''–1918

After a brief shakedown cruise in mid-June 1918, ''Aroostook'' took on board a load of mines and then began a voyage across the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

in the company of her sister minelayer, USS ''Shawmut''. This voyage, aided by the novel technique of refueling at sea, took her to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, where in July she participated in laying the

, laying thousands of mines across the mouth of the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

in order to create a barrier for German

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

s trying to depart from German

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

s to the open Atlantic. ''Aroostook'' laid a total of 3,180 mines in this operation: * planted 320 mines during the 3rd minelaying excursion on 14 July, * planted 320 mines during the 4th minelaying excursion on 29 July, * planted 290 mines during the 5th minelaying excursion on 8 August, * planted 330 mines during the 6th minelaying excursion on 18 August, * planted 310 mines during the 7th minelaying excursion on 26 August, * planted 290 mines on 30 August to complete the 7th minefield after was unable to lay its mines, * planted 320 mines during the 9th minelaying excursion on 20 September, * planted 330 mines during the 10th minelaying excursion on 27 September, * planted 330 mines during the 11th minelaying excursion on 4 October, and * planted 340 mines during the final 13th minelaying excursion on 24 October. This effort, nearly completed, was the major operation of the U.S. Navy in European waters during World War I, and it came to an end on 11 November 1918 with the

Armistice with Germany The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices ...

and the end of fighting in World War I. USS ''Aroostook'' steamed home to the East Coast in December 1918

An aircraft tender, 1919–1931

During the spring of 1919, USS ''Aroostook'' was refitted as an "aircraft tender" to support the attempt by U.S. Navy

naval aviator Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-based a ...

s to make the first

transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film), ...

crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by air. The Navy had four huge

Curtiss NC The Curtiss NC (Curtiss Navy Curtiss, nicknamed "Nancy boat" or "Nancy") was a flying boat built by Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company and used by the United States Navy from 1918 through the early 1920s. Ten of these aircraft were built, the mos ...

floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...

s built for the project. These aircraft were twice the size of contemporary aircraft. The route for this attempt used southeastern

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

and the Portuguese

Azores Islands ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

as stopping-off points for refueling and maintenance work on the new planes, and for rest and mess periods for their

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

s. In the event of the attempt, mechanical problems and lack of replacement parts necessitated the cannibalization of one of the aircraft, leaving three "Nancys" for the attempt. US Navy ships Trepassey Bay c1919

During the first half of May 1919, ''Aroostook'' was waiting at the port of

Trepassey Trepassey () is a small fishing community located in Trepassey Bay on the south eastern corner of the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland and Labrador. It was in Trepassey Harbour where the flight of the ''Friendship'' took off, with Amelia Earhart ...

, Newfoundland, to serve as a floating base for the three medium-sized Curtiss NC floatplanes that took off from the

area on 16 May. After taking care of the Curtiss NCs and their crews, and seeing them off towards the Azores, ''Aroostook'' next steamed to England, where she rendezvoused with the ''

NC-4 The NC-4 was a Curtiss NC flying boat that was the first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, albeit not non-stop. The NC designation was derived from the collaborative efforts of the Navy (N) and Curtiss (C). The NC series flying boats w ...

'', the only airplane to complete the transatlantic flight, at the end of May. The crewmen of ''Aroostook'' then disassembled the ''NC-4'' and loaded her onto the ship for the voyage back to United States. In August and early September, ''Aroostook'' carried a cargo of naval mines and supplies to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

via the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

. She spent the rest of the year on the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

carrying out transportation missions and also as the aviation flagship for the Pacific Fleet. Though she continued to be classified as a "minelayer", and she received the warship designation CM-3 (minelayer) in mid-1920, ''Aroostook''s remaining active service was as an aircraft tender. Throughout the 1920s, she mainly served on the

Eastern Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, but she made occasional voyages to the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

and the

Atlantic Seaboard The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...

to take part in the annual, massive "fleet problem" exercises. ''Aroostook'' also steamed to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

and back in 1925 and 1928, including on the first occasion as the support aircraft tender for a pioneering attempt to fly two patrol planes from the West Coast to Hawaii.

Decommissioning and sale, 1931–1947

Taken out of commission in March 1931 at the

Puget Sound Navy Yard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, officially Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km2) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted u ...

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerto ...

, ''Aroostook'' was laid up in

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

for the next decade. With

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 opposin ...

raging in Europe, and the war threatening to spread worldwide soon, she was considered for reactivation as a

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

, and in May 1941, she was re-designated AK-44. However, her age and her limited capabilities kept her inactive. In February 1943, ''Aroostook'' was stricken from the

Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...

and then transferred to the

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime Co ...

. Regaining the name ''Bunker Hill'', she stayed in port for the rest of the war. Although she was sold in 1947 to a firm headed by

Anthony Cornero Anthony Cornero Stralla also known as "the Admiral" and "Tony the Hat" (August 18, 1899 – July 31, 1955) was a bootlegger and gambling entrepreneur in Southern California from the 1920s through the 1950s. During his varied career, he bootlegged ...

that planned to use her as a floating casino off of Malibu.Associated Press, "Cornero Says His Gambling Ships Will Be Lawful", ''The San Bernardino Daily Sun'', San Bernardino, California, Saturday 6 April 1946, Volume 52, page 1. The old ship was seized by the

U.S. Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mul ...

as a "gambling ship" on 17 September 1946. The ship was turned over to the U.S. Maritime Commission on 24 July 1947. On 17 October 1947 the ship was sold to Basalt Rock Co., Inc. for $18,000 for scrapping.

Footnotes

References

External links

USS ''Aroostook'' : Naval Historical Center
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aroostook (CM-3) Ships built in Philadelphia 1907 ships Unique minelayers of the United States Navy World War I mine warfare vessels of the United States World War II auxiliary ships of the United States Cargo ships of the United States Navy