Item Description
Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. The USS Saranac was the Old Dominion Steamship Company Hamilton temporarily converted for planting the World War I North Sea Mine Barrage. John Roach & Sons launched Hamilton at Chester, Pennsylvania in 1899. Hamilton steamed between Norfolk, Virginia and New York City until The United States Shipping Board took control of the ship from Old Dominion Steamship Company in 1917. She was fitted out for United States Navy service by James Shewan & Sons at Brooklyn, New York. The minelaying conversion enabled her to carry mines on two decks, and included four Otis elevators individually capable of transferring two mines every 20 seconds from the storage deck to the launching deck. USS Saranac was commissioned on 9 April 1918. While operating as part of Mine Squadron 1 out of Inverness, Scotland, from 14 July until the close of the war on 11 November 1918, Saranac laid a total of 4,782 mines.
This is a fantastic example of a scarce WWI Navy “flat hat” for the minelayer USS Saranac, one of the most storied U.S. minelayers of World War I. Between July 14th and November 11th, 1918, Saranac laid a total of 4,782 mines during thirteen different excursions along the North Sea Mine Barrage.
The cap is in great shape with some minor material loss. The cap tally reads U.S.S. SARANAC in worn gold lettering. The interior is stenciled with the name V. HALL, a good research project. The cap is roughly a Size 7.
A great and scarce cap to a service-worn minelayer. Comes ready for further research and display.
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