USS Aroostook ( CM - 3 ) 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 minelayer s 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 began laying thousands of mines across the mouth of the North Sea in order to create a barrier for German U - boat s trying to depart from German seaport s to the open Atlantic . " Aroostook " : 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 An aircraft tender , 1919 - 31 . During the spring of 1919 , the USS " Aroostook " was refitted as an " aircraft tender " to support the attempt by U . S . Navy naval aviator s to make the first transatlantic crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by air . The Navy had four huge Curtiss NC floatplane s built for the project . These aircraft were twice the size of contemporary aircraft . The route for this attempt used southeastern Newfoundland and the Portuguese Azores Islands as stopping - off points for refueling and maintenance work on the new planes , and for rest and mess periods for their aviators . In the event of the attempt , mechanical problems and lack of replacement parts necessitated the cannabilization of one of the aircraft , leaving three " Nancys " for the attempt . During the first half of May , 1919 , the " Aroostook " was waiting at the port of Trepassey , Newfoundland , to serve as a floating base for the three medium - sized Curtiss NC floatplane s that took off from the New York City area on the 16th . After taking care of the Curtiss NCs and their crews , and seeing them off towards the Azores , the " Aroostook " next steamed to England , where she rendezvoused with the " NC - 4 " , the only airplane to complete the transatlantic flight , at the end of May . The crewmen of the " Aroostook " then disassembled the " NC - 4 " and loaded her onto the ship for the voyage back to United States . In August and early September , the " Aroostook " carried a cargo of naval mine s and supplies to California via the Panama Canal . She spent the rest of the year on the West Coast carrying out transportation missions and also as the aviation flagship for the Pacific Fleet . Though she continued to be classified as a " minelayer " , and she received the warship designation CM - 3 ( minelayer ) in mid - 1920 , the " Aroostook " s remaining active service was as an aircraft tender . Throughout the 1920s , she mainly served on the Eastern Pacific Ocean , but she made occasional voyages to the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Seaboard to take part in the annual , massive " fleet problem " exercises . The " Aroostook " also steamed to Hawaii and back in 1925 and 1928 , including on the first occasion as the support aircraft tender for a pioneering attempt to fly two patrol plane s from the West Coast to Hawaii . Decommissioning and sale , 1931 - 47 . Taken out of commission in March 1931 at the Puget Sound Navy Yard , Bremerton , Washington , the " Aroostook " was laid up on reserve for the entire next decade . With World War II raging in Europe , and the war threatening to spread worldwide soon , she was considered for reactivation as a cargo ship , and in May 1941 , she was redesignated the AK - 44 . However , her age and her limited capabilities kept her inactive . In February 1943 , the " Aroostook " was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register and then transferred to the War Shipping Administration . Regaining the name " Bunker Hill " , she stayed in port for the rest of the war . Although she was sold in 1947 to a firm that planned to use her as a floating casino , those plans fell through , and the old ship was next seized by the U . S . Government , which sold her for scrapping in October 1947 .