USS Aroostook (CM-3)

USS Aroostook (CM-3)

USS "Aroostook" (ID-1256/CM-3/AK-44), was a 3,800-ton minelayer, was built in 1907 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the coastal passenger steamer "Bunker Hill". She was acquired by the Navy in November 1917 and renamed within a few days. Placed in commission in December as ID-1256, she was converted to a "mine planter" at the Boston Navy Yard during the next several months.

After a brief shakedown cruise, in mid-June 1918 "Aroostook" took on board a load of mines and began a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in company with her sister minelayer "Shawmut" (ID-1255). The trip, facilitated by the then-novel technique of refueling at sea, took her to Scotland, where in July she began laying thousands of mines in the North Sea to create a barrier for transiting German submarines. This effort came to an end with the 11 November 1918 Armistice, and "Aroostook" returned home in December.

In the spring of 1919 "Aroostook" was refitted to support a Navy attempt to fly across the Atlantic. During the first half of May she was at Trepassy Bay, Newfoundland, as base for the three big NC flying boats that departed, eastbound, on the 16th. The ship then steamed to England, where she greeted the NC-4, the only plane to complete the trip by air, at the end of May. "Aroostook" then took the NC-4 back to U.S. and, in August and early September, carried a cargo of mines and supplies to California. She spent the rest of the year on the West Coast performing transportation duties and on assignment as the Pacific Fleet's aviation flagship.

Though continuing to be classified as a minelayer, and receiving the designation CM-4 in mid-1920, "Aroostook"s remaining active service was as an aircraft tender. Throughout the 1920s she mainly operated in the eastern Pacific, but made occasional visits to the Caribbean area and the U.S. East Coast to take part in fleet exercises. "Aroostook" also steamed to Hawaii in 1925 and 1928, on the first occasion as a support ship for a pioneering attempt to fly two patrol planes from the West Coast to Hawaii.

Placed out of commission in March 1931 at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, "Aroostook" was laid up for the next decade. With World War II raging in Europe and threatening to spread World-wide, she was considered for reactivation as a cargo ship and, in May 1941, redesignated AK-44. However, her age and limited capabilities kept her inactive. In February 1943, USS "Aroostook" was stricken from the Navy list and transferred to the War Shipping Administration. Regaining the name "Bunker Hill", she stayed in port for the rest of the War. Though sold in 1947 to a firm that planned to use her as a floating casino, these plans fell through and the old ship was seized by the Government, which sold her for scrapping in October 1947.

References

*DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/a12/aroostook-ii.htm

External links

* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-a/id1256.htm Naval Historical Center website]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/11/0603.htm navsource.org: Information and photos of the "Aroostook"]


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