| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USS Roanoke[1] |
| Namesake | Roanoke Algonquian-speaking tribe in eastern North Carolina |
| Builder | Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia[1] |
| Launched | 30 August 1911[1] |
| Commissioned | 25 January 1918[1] |
| Fate | Transferred to United States Shipping Board 1919 for return to owner |
| Notes | Operated as commercial passenger-cargo ship El Dia c. 1911–1917[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Minelayer (in 1918)[1] |
| Displacement | 7,000 tons[1] |
| Length | 405 ft (123 m)[1] |
| Beam | 48 ft (15 m)[1] |
| Draft | 20 ft (6.1 m)[1] |
| Speed | 15 knots[1] |
| Capacity | 830 mines (900 max)[1] |
| Crew | 21 officers and 400 men[1] |
| Armament | |
The third USS Roanoke was the Southern Pacific freighter El Dia temporarily converted for planting the World War I North Sea Mine Barrage. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company launched El Dia at Newport News, Virginia on 30 August 1911 for service between New York City and Gulf of Mexico seaports of New Orleans and Galveston, Texas. The United States Shipping Board took control of the ship from Southern Pacific Steamship Company in 1917.