SS Hamilton, a 3723 gross ton coastal passenger steamer, was built in 1899 at Chester, Pennsylvania. She was rebuilt at Newport News, Virginia, in 1909 and, in December 1917, was chartered by the Navy. Converted to a minelayer at South Brooklyn, New York, she was placed in commission in April 1918 as USS Saranac (ID # 1702). The ship crossed the Atlantic to Scotland in June to begin several months of minelaying as part of the squadron that erected an vast anti-submarine mine barrier across the North Sea. This task was completed late in October, a few weeks before the 11 November 1918 Armistice brought an end to the First World War's fighting. Saranac returned to the United States early in the new year. Generally inactive after that, she was decommissioned in March 1919 and turned over to the U.S. Shipping Board for return to her owner, the Old Dominion Steamship Company.
This page features all the views we have concerning USS Saranac (ID # 1702) and the steamship Hamilton of 1899.
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 52819 Mine Squadron One, U.S. Atlantic Fleet Senior officers of the squadron, photographed on board ship in the North Sea area, September 1918. Those present are identified in Photo # NH 52819 (complete caption). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 96KB; 740 x 430 pixels |
![]() |
Photo #: NH 52995 Mine Squadron One, U.S. Atlantic Fleet Senior officers of the squadron, photographed on board ship in the North Sea area, September 1918. Those present are identified in Photo # NH 52995 (complete caption). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 88KB; 740 x 495 pixels |
![]() |
USS Saranac and her sister ship, USS Quinnebaug (ID # 1687), are visible in the background of the following photographs:
Photo #: NH 61101 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): 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. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 86KB; 740 x 610 pixels |
![]() |
Photo #: 111-SC-43563 Laying the North Sea Mine Barrage, 1918 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. Online Image: 59KB; 740 x 460 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
![]() |
Photo #: NH 51142 USS L-4 (Submarine # 43), USS L-1 (Submarine # 40), and USS L-10 (Submarine # 50) (listed from left to right) At the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, soon after their 1 February 1919 return to the U.S. from European waters. Ship in the immediate background is either USS Quinnebaug (ID # 1687) or USS Saranac (ID # 1702), with the other of the two beyond her. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 83KB; 740 x 595 pixels |
![]() |
Photo #: NH 51143 USS L-4 (Submarine # 43), USS L-1 (Submarine # 40), and USS L-10 (Submarine # 50) (listed from left to right) At the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, soon after their 1 February 1919 return to the U.S. from European waters. Ship in the immediate background is either USS Quinnebaug (ID # 1687) or USS Saranac (ID # 1702), with the other of the two beyond her. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 104KB; 740 x 535 pixels |
![]() |
One of the ships seen in the following photograph MAY be USS Saranac:
The ship seen below, S.S. Jefferson (later USS Quinnebaug), was a sister to S.S. Hamilton, which became USS Saranac. This photograph was featured on the World War I data cards for both ships:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 8 December 2004
Photo captions corrected 23 March 2005