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Identification Numbered Vessel Photo Archive

El Siglo (ID 4510)



El Siglo's civilian call sign (1919):
King - Rush - Have - Love

ex-Canandaigua (ID 1694)



Call sign (Early 1919):
George - Quack - Pup - Love

Call sign (Late 1919):
Nan - Cast - Rush
El Sud Class Passenger Steamer/Minelayer:

  • Built in 1901 as El Siglo by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Corp., Newport News, VA for the Morgan Line
  • Delivered 30 November 1901
  • Acquired by the Navy 23 November 1917
  • Commissioned USS Canandaigua (ID 1694), 2 March 1918
  • Decommissioned 22 September 1919 at New York and returned to the United States Shipping Board and renamed El Siglo
  • Assigned ID No. 4510 in 1922
  • Scrapped in 1934.

    Specifications

  • Displacement 7,620 t.
  • Length 405' 1"
  • Beam 48' 3"
  • Draft 22' 6"
  • Speed 15 kts.
  • Complement 368
  • Armament: One 5"/51 and two 3"/50 mounts and two machine guns
  • Propulsion: Three double ended boilers, one 4,000hp vertical triple expansion steam engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Canonicus 125k U.S. Navy Mine Layers steaming in line abreast during the laying of the North Sea mine barrage, September 1918. Analysis of camouflage patterns indicates that these ships are (from front to rear): USS Roanoke (ID 1695); USS Housatonic (ID 1697); USS Shawmut (ID 1255); USS Canandaigua (ID 1694); USS Canonicus (ID 1696); with USS Quinnebaug (ID 1687) and USS Saranac (ID 1702) in the left and right center distance. A four-stack British cruiser is in the left distance
    U.S. Navy photo 61101    		 Naval Historical Center
    Quinnebaug 71k 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
    Photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives
    U.S. Army Signal Corps Photo 111-SC-43563
    Aroostook 111k American minelayers underway on 20 September 1918. They include; on the right: USS Roanoke (ID-1695), USS Housatonic (ID-1697), USS Quinnebaug (ID-1687), USS Baltimore (CM-1). On the left: USS Canonicus (ID-1696), USS Canandaigua (ID-1694), USS Aroostook (CM-3), USS Saranac (ID-1702)
    Imperial War Museum photo No.© IWM(Q 20254) from American First World War Official Exchange Collection     		Mike Green
    Canandaigua 134k Ship's officers and crew posed on deck, at Invergordon, Scotland, October 1918. Her Commanding Officer, Commander William H. Reynolds, is seated in the middle of the second row
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 55558    		 Robert Hurst
    Canandaigua 70k Tied to a mooring buoy, circa 1918, probably in a British Isles harbor
    Collection of Clarence E. Grisso, donated by R.W.G. Vail, 1934.
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 99625
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR William Herbert Reynolds, USN - USNA Class of 1897
    Awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal (1918) - Retired as Captain    		2 March 1918 - 1919
    02LCDR Ralph M. Packer, USNRF1919 - 22 September 1919
    Courtesy Joe Radigan and Wolfgang Hechler
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships History: The second Canandaigua (No. 1694), a minelayer, was built in 1901 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Corp., Newport News, VA., as El Siglo, transferred from the Shipping Board 23 November 1917; fitted out as a minelayer by Morse Dry Dock and Repair Co., Brooklyn, N.Y.; and commissioned 2 March l918, Commander W. H. Reynolds in command.

    Assigned to Mine Squadron 1, Mine Force, Canandaigua sailed from Newport, R.I., 12 May 1918 and arrived at Inverness 6 weeks later. Participating in the laying of the gigantic North Sea Mine Barrage, she made 13 runs from Inverness, handling her hazardous duty with the precision and care required for a successful mine plant.

    Following the signing of the Armistice, Canandaigua sailed for conversion to a troop transport at Boston Navy Yard, and on 11 March 1919 was assigned to the Cruiser and Transport Force. Between 8 April and 26 August, she made four voyages to France, returning some 4,800 servicemen. Canandaigua was decommissioned at New York 22 September 1919 and returned to the Shipping Board the same day.

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