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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Minelayer Roanoke


Built in 1901 as the steel-hulled steamer El Dia by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, VA; Acquired by the Navy, 16 November 1917 and converted to a Mine Layer at Tietjan and Lang's Shipyard, Hoboken, NJ; Commissioned USS Roanoke (ID 1695), 25 January 1918; Decommissioned, 30 August 1919 and transferred to the War Shipping Board for return to her owner; Struck from the Naval Register, (date unknown); Fate unknown.

Specifications: Displacement 7,620 t.; Length 379' 9"; Beam 48' 3"; Draft 22' 6"; Speed 14.5 kts; Complement 493; Armament, one 5", two 3", and two machine guns.
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Roanoke 58k Artwork of El Dia prior to conversion as a minelayer, photographed by E.P. Griffith, Newport News, Virginia, showing her in merchant service prior to World War I. The original is in National Archives' Record Group 19-LCM. USN photo NH 100250. Naval Historical Center
Roanoke 64k U.S. Navy minelayers proceeding to sea in two columns, in Area Number 2 of the North Sea, September 1918. Ships in the column at left are (from front to rear): Roanoke, Housatonic, Quinnebaug and Baltimore. Ships in column at right are (from front to rear): Canonicus (out of picture, to right), Canandaigua, Aroostook and Saranac. Note disruptive "dazzle" camouflage worn by these ships. Photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives. USN photo 111-SC-43563. Naval Historical Center

View the Roanoke DANFS History
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Naval Minewarfare Association
Association of Minemen
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