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The USS ''Aroostook'' (ID-1256/CM-3/AK-44) was the Eastern Steamship Company's ''Bunker Hill'' converted for planting the World War I North Sea Mine Barrage. ''Bunker Hill'' was built in 1907 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for passenger service between Boston and New York City. ''Bunker Hill'' and her sister ship ''Massachusetts'' were among the eight ships acquired by the U.S. Navy in November 1917. The two coastal passenger steamers were converted to minelayers at the Boston Navy Yard. ==World War I for the 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 in the company of her sister minelayer, the USS ''Shawmut''. This voyage, aided by the novel technique of refueling at sea, took her to Scotland, where in July she participated in laying the North Sea Mine Barrage, laying thousands of mines across the mouth of the North Sea in order to create a barrier for German U-boats trying to depart from German seaports 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 USS 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.〔Belknap, Reginald Rowan ''The Yankee mining squadron; or, Laying the North Sea mining barrage'' (1920) United States Naval Institute p.110〕 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 and the end of fighting in World War I. The USS ''Aroostook'' steamed home to the East Coast in December 1918 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USS Aroostook (CM-3)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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