USS Aroostook (CM-3)

Bunker Hill with the passenger superstructure that was added in 1911
History
United States
Name	1906: Commonwealth (planned) 1907: Bunker Hill 1917: Aroostook 1945: Bunker Hill 1946: Lux
Namesake	1906: Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1907: Battle of Bunker Hill 1917: Aroostook people
Owner	1907: New England Nav Co 1911: Maine Steamship Co 1912: Eastern Steamship Lines 1946: Seven Seas T&SS Co
Operator	1917: United States Navy
Port of registry	1907: New London 1911: Portland 1912: Boston 1946: Los Angeles
Route	1907: Fall River – New York 1908: Boston – New York
Builder	Wm Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia
Yard number	343
Launched	26 March 1907
Sponsored by	Rose Fitzgerald
Completed	1907
Acquired	for US Navy, 12 November 1917
Commissioned	7 December 1917
Decommissioned	10 March 1931
Maiden voyage	11 July 1907
Refit	1911; 1917; 1919
Stricken	5 February 1943
Identification	US official number 204264 1907: code letters KWDT 1913: wireless call sign KJB 1917: Naval Registry ID-1256 1919: code letters GQRS 1920: hull symbol CM-3 1920: call sign NMK 1931: call sign NENR 1941: hull symbol AK-44
Fate	scrapped, 1947
General characteristics
Type	1907: cargo liner 1911: passenger ship 1917: minelayer 1919: flying boat tender 1946: gambling ship
Tonnage	1908: 4,029 GRT; 1,724 NRT 1912: 4,779 GRT; 2,575 NRT 1946: 3,880 GRT; 2,575 NRT
Displacement	1918: 3,800 long tons (3,900 t)
Length	395 ft (120 m) overall 375 ft (114 m) p/p
Beam	52.2 ft (15.9 m)
Draft	16 ft 0 in (4.88 m)
Depth	1908: 31.6 ft (9.6 m) 1913: 30.2 ft (9.2 m)
Decks	2
Installed power	674 NHP; 7,500 ihp
Propulsion	2 × triple-expansion engines 2 × screws
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h)
Capacity	1907: 4 × passenger cabins 1911: 225 × passenger cabins
Complement	in US Navy, 313
Crew	1907: 38 1912: 167
Armament	1 × 5-inch/51-caliber gun 2 × 3-inch/23-caliber guns 2 × .30 caliber Colt machine guns

USS Aroostook (ID-1256 / CM-3 / AK-44) was a steamship that was built as the coastal cargo liner Bunker Hill. She was launched in 1907 by Rose Fitzgerald, who in 1914 became Rose Kennedy. In 1911 Bunker Hill was refitted as a passenger ship. She ran between Boston and New York until 1917, when the United States Navy commissioned her as USS Aroostook, and converted her into a minelayer. In 1918 she took part in laying the North Sea Mine Barrage.

In 1919 Aroostook was converted into a flying boat tender, and supported the US Navy's successful attempt to fly a flying boat from North America to Europe. In 1925 she supported the Navy's unsuccessful attempt to fly a flying boat from California to Hawaii, and led the search for the aircraft after it had to touch down in mid-ocean. In 1931 she was decommissioned and placed in the reserve fleet.

In 1941 the Navy tried to convert Aroostook back into a cargo ship, but found it impractical due to her age. She was stricken from the Naval Register in 1943, and her name was reverted to Bunker Hill. In 1946 the former boot-legger Anthony Cornero bought her, renamed her Lux, and had her converted into a gambling ship. The United States Coast Guard seized her, and in 1947 she was scrapped.