USCG Pequot - Sister Ships: Graham, Frank, Schofield, Mills

UNITED STATES HARBOR DEFENCES - USCG CABLE SHIP PEQUOT

SISTER SHIPS

Construction Photos of the Mills, Frank, Schofield, and Graham -
Independence Seaport Museum Archives, New York Shipbuilding records www.phillyseaport.org/library

Construction Photos of the Mills II and Frank II - Marietta Manufacturing Company Records (#742), Special Collections Department,
J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/special/ead/findingaids/0742/

This page provides more detail related to the U.S. Coast Guard Cable ship Pequot during World War II. It describes the design and construction of several sisterships to the Pequot - a ship that undertook the vital harbor defense cable-laying program along the eastern seaboard of the USA. Our main page for the USCG Pequot provides extra details about the ship, its crew, its purpose as well as links to our other Pequot pages. Research and design by by Chip Calamaio and Richard Walding.

The US Coast Guard Pequot (previously The General Samuel M. Mills). During WWII this cable ship laid top secret Indicator Loop cables to protect harbors from German U-boats. Her mission ranged from the ports of Virginia up to Argentia, Newfoundland. (Calamaio family).

MEET THE PEQUOT'S SISTER SHIPS

"Sister Ships" are a group of ships of virtually identical design to another ship. For instance, the U.S. warships USS Iowa, USS New Jersey, USS Missouri, and USS Wisconsin, are all sister ships, each being an Iowa-class battleship. The main purpose is to achieve economies of scale for contracting and construction, similar to an automobile assembly line, only on a much larger scale. In the case of the USCG Pequot, originally built as the Army mine planter the General Samuel M. Mills, her sister ships included the General Royal T. Frank, the General John M. Schofield, the General E.O.S. Ord, and later, with some modification, the General William M. Graham. For our purposes we are broadening the Sister Ship definition to include the 1942 Camanche class Army Mine planters who were not only the namesakes of the original Mills and the Frank built in 1908-09, but also to acknowledge their parallel mission of laying not only sea mines but underwater cable used for a variety of purposes. We believe that many of the WWII Indicator Loop cables installed outside of the Pequot's service area were laid by these Camanche class mine layers along the Southern Atlantic and Pacific coasts. This concept is reinforced by the fact that when the Pequot was retired from service after WWII, the Camanche Class mine layer, Trapper (ACM-9) was modified to become a full time cable ship as Pequot's replacement, the USCG Yamacraw (WARC-333).

For stories about the crew and history of the USCG Pequot please go to the USCG Pequot main page.

To see plans and photos of General Samuel M. Mills under construction in 1908-09 go to the Pequot Plans page


Gen. John M Schofield	Gen. Royal T Frank	The Gen. E.O.C Ord	2nd Gen Sam M. Mills	2nd Gen. Royal T Frank
Click on the image above to go to the ship.


Gen. Wm M Graham		The Joseph Henry (still afloat)
Click image above to go to the ship.

General John M Schofield

1. The Army Mine Planter General John M. Schofield, June 4th 1910 (US Naval Institute)


2. The General John M Schofield under construction in 1909.	3. John McAllister Schofield 28th U.S. Secretary of War. Library of Congress, Civil War Photographs Collection).

The General John M Schofield was built under contract #76 with the New York Shipbuilding Company in shipway L next to the General Samuel M Mills with her keel also laid on October 12th, 1908. The ship was launched on February 20th 1909 and after outfitting and sea trials was turned over to the US Army for mine planting duty on June 2nd 1909. After 38 years at sea she was scrapped after World War II in 1947. The ship was named to honor General John McAllister Schofield who was the 28th U. S. Secretary of War and Commanding General of the United States Army 1888-95.


4. In the fall of 1908 we can see the double bottom of the Schofield's hull being constructed above the keel. Click To Enlarge.	5. The General John M. Schofield in Shipway K in 1909. The mast rigging has been started and that the upper deck railings have been installed. Click To Enlarge.

General Royal T. Frank

1. The General Royal T. Frank. Shortly after being launched and fitted out here we see the starboard side of the Royal T. Frank on the Delaware River in 1909 with the tips of her masts fading into the fog. Click to enlarge.
(Independence Seaport Museum Archives)

2. It is interesting to compare the starboard ship elevation from the 1908 construction drawings with the starboard view of the Frank in the photo above. Click to enlarge.
(National Archives and Records Administration)

The General Royal T. Frank was constructed under contract #77 in shipway L at the New York Shipbuilding Company. Her keel was laid on October 20th 1908. The ship was launched on March 15th 1909 and once outfitted, and put through her paces at sea, was delivered to US Army Mine Planting Service on June 8th 1909. The ship was named to honor the U. S. Army Brigadier General Royal Thaxter Frank who fought during the Spanish-American War and during the Civil War at the Battle of Fredericksburg.

3. General Royal T. Frank
(Special Collections, US Military Academy Library, West Point)

4. The General Royal T. Frank under construction in Shipway L. Click to Enlarge

5. Prior to launching we see the Frank on wooden ways and supported with bracing.

6. More than 30 men are on deck with ropes and cables along the gunwale as the shipway is flooded and the Frank slides off the ways and is launched. Click To Enlarge


7a,b. We see that as the ship becomes buoyant the wooden ways holding the hull in position are pulled free by the men on deck which enables the Frank to slide out of the shipway.

8. The Frank on the Delaware River immediately after launching from Shipway L.The upper deck cabins have yet to be constructed and the mast rigging completed.

9. The mine planter the General Royal T. Frank berthed at the New York Shipbuilding Company in 1909. The ship appears completely fitted out and rigged awaiting sea trials before delivery to the Army. Click To Enlarge

By the late 1930s the ship was serving in the Hawaiian Islands as an inter-island transport to ferry Army troops between bases on the different islands. She also often took soldiers and their families from Honolulu and other islands to Hilo on the Big Island for recreational leave.

10. The General Royal T. Frank
US Army Field Artillery Journal, December 1942

In the starboard side photo above we can see large canvas awnings covering the fantail and rear upper deck to shade passengers and crew from Hawaii's tropical sun. It appears the Frank was painted white or a very light color and now had only one large boom rigged off the forward mast for loading and unloading cargo instead of the three booms used during delicate mine planting operations. We speculate that during conversion to a transport the Frank was modified considerably to accommodate Army passengers and inter-island freight. To that end the main deck cabins were probably reconfigured considerably which may have included the addition of many passenger seats and the removal or downsizing of the galleys, crew mess halls, and some of the small private staterooms on that level. With a change in mission the size of the ship's crew was much smaller than during earlier duty as a mine planter in the early 1900s.


11a. With the Union Jack snapping at the bow we see the Frank in 1937 docked at one of the Hawaiian Islands working as an inter-island transport. Click to enlarge. (Courtesy Randy Biddle, Windship Studios & Ramon Jackson)	11b. The US Army Transport the General Royal T. Frank circa 1935 steaming out of Honolulu Harbor on her way to another military base in the Hawaiian Islands. Note the single large boom arm for cargo work and the absence of a radio directional finding (RDF) radio antenna atop the wheelhouse like the Pequot had by the 1920s. (US Army Museum of Hawai'i)

12. An Army transport truck is being lowered by a dockside crane onto the Frank's fo'castle deck for delivery to one of the Army bases on another island. On the pier we can also see wooden crates of cargo. In this image it appears that the Frank still had at least two forward booms operational off the forward mast. (Courtesy of Ramon Jackson)

Less than two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor on the evening of January 28th 1942 while steaming from Kahului, Maui to Hilo, the Frank was towing an ammunition barge which was loaded with petroleum and building materials. In convoy with the Frank was a US Navy "four stacker" flush deck destroyer, and the tug Kalae which we believe may have been the name of the "ammunition barge" the Frank was towing. About two miles off the coast of Maui the General Frank was torpedoed by the Japanese Kaidai Vla late class KD6 submarine I-171. The Frank exploded and sank in less than 30 seconds in the 6000 ft deep Alenuihaha Channel between Maui and the Big Island. The irony of this tragedy is that 17 of the 29 men aboard the Frank who were killed were new US Army Japanese-American recruits.

13a, b. The Japanese Submarine I-171 which sank the General Royal T. Frank. In these rare views of this KD6 class sub we see the ship underway and the view forward from the conning tower. This boat participated in "Operation K," the Imperial Japanese Navy's unsuccessful second attack on Pearl Harbor on March 4th 1942, it then served on the first supply runs to Guadalcanal which sapped the strength and morale of the Japanese submarine force.
(Photos courtesy of Mitch Williamson)

By 1944 the I-171 was assigned to Japanese Submarine Squadron 3 and based at Rabaul to resupply Japanese forces fighting American troops on Bougainville Island. While making a run between Rabaul and Buka on January 31st 1944 with her decks loaded with cargo in rubber containers, the American destroyers USS Hudson (DD-475) and the USS Guest (DD-472) picked up the I-171 on radar 15 miles from Green Island. Seeing the destroyers approaching at flank speed the sub made a crash dive but the destroyers quickly picked up the ship on sonar. After several depth charge attack runs the I-171 was sunk with all hands.

13c. Japanese Submarine I-171 with a large rising sun flag flying aft. (photoship.co.uk)

On the afternoon of January 26th 1942 after finishing basic training at Schofield Barracks on Oahu 26 newly trained Army draftees had their photo taken by soldier Shigeru Ushijima before being split up and shipping out for duty assignments to different Army bases on the Hawaiian Islands. Ushijima gave the film from his camera to an acquaintance who took it to the Big Island for him to be processed. In less than 48 hours his camera would be on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and 17 of those men would be dead.

14. Shigeru Ushijima's "Torpedo Gang" photo taken at
Schofield Barracks on January 26th 1942

On Tuesday January 27th the men boarded the General Frank in Honolulu and the ship set off for Maui under the command of Alex F. Sczymanski, a Master Merchant Marine Captian under the US Army Transport Service. First the ship traveled to Kahului and dropped off some of the troops on Maui to serve with A Company of the 299th National Guard garrison before setting off on the foggy and rainy morning of January 28th for the Big Island and Hilo.

According to accounts from survivors, one torpedo missed the Frank entirely, another made a glancing blow but did not explode. Sczymanski realized they were under attack and quickly started a zig zag pattern and the escort destroyer began dropping depth charges but within a matter of minutes a third torpedo made a direct hit on the Frank sending her quickly to the bottom. In Michael Slackman's "Target Pearl Harbor" he describes how "The Ship's radio operator Private Victor Rabinowitz, was trapped by a mast cable which fell across his leg. As the ship sank he was dragged down, but at last the cable was loosened and he bobbed to the surface. Chief Engineer Francis Wilson also had a narrow escape. He was pinned between a beam and an automobile being carried as cargo. Like Rabinowitz, he manage to free himself after the ship went under." None of the Army recruits or ship's crew who were below decks when the torpedo detonated survived. Those who did spent more than 2 hours in the water clinging to debris or hanging onto the side of the ammunition barge before being rescued and brought to Hana on Maui. Covered in oil, they were taken to a gymnasium where they were cleaned off with gasoline and issued new clothing. Injuries were treated at the Kaeleku Plantation Company clinic. Captain Sczymanski went down with his ship.

15. The KD6 class submarine I-73 in Ariake Bay on the Southern tip of Japan, April 24th 1939. This sister ship to the I-171 was sunk by a US submarine early in WWII through radio intercepts and decryption. (Courtesy of Mitch Williamson)

According to survivors once on Maui, at what we believe was Camp Paukukalo, the men were questioned about the torpedo attack. They were told what had happened was a military secret and they were instructed never to speak of the explosion and sinking of the General Royal T. Frank - not even to their families. Shortly afterwards they were sent back to Schofield barracks where they were reassigned and soon shipped out overseas. The families of the men killed on the Frank were never informed of their deaths until after the war. Called "The Torpedo Gang" the nine Army soldiers who survived the sinking of the General Royal T. Frank were Yoshio Ogomori, John Souza, Tokimaru Takamoto, George Taketa, Shizuo Toma, Shigeru Ushijima, Mac Wakimoto, Haruo Yamashita, and Susumu Yoshioka

To learn more about the sinking of the Frank, the Japanese-American soldiers who survived, and Shigeru Ushijima's group photo see The Legend of the Torpedo Gang

16. The forward torpedo room of a Japanese Kaidai Vla submarine.
(U.S. Marine Corps Photo Taken in Sasebo, Japan, January 28^th 1946).

As of the spring of 2011 according to the Japanese American World War II veteran's Hanashi Oral History Program of the Go For Broke National Education Center, 442nd RCT veteran Haruo Yamashita is believed to be the only surviving member of the Torpedo Gang."

One reference shows that the wreck of the Frank is located at GPS coordinates 20.34N 155.43W. At that spot the ship would lie more than 4200 feet below sea level far beyond the limits of human diving. To the best of our knowledge the remains of the Frank have never been located.

Today there is a memorial to the men lost on the General Frank at the Central Kona Union Church Cemetery on the Big Island of Hawaii.

The General E.O.C. Ord

1. The Army Mine Planter General E.O.C. Ord during sea trials 1909
(Courtesy of the Hagley Museum & Library - Pusey and Jones Corporation Collection)

In 1908 and 1909 when the Army mine planters Mills, Frank, and Schofield were under construction at the New York Shipbuilding Company in Camden New Jersey, just 40 miles downstream along the Delaware River, the Army Mine Planter General E.O.S. Ord was being fabricated by the Pusey and Jones Shipyard in Wilmington, Delaware as hull number 335 under contract 1158. Based upon photographic comparisons these four ships appear identical (see below).


Mills	Frank

Schofield	Ord

2. Like the Mills, Frank and Schofield we see that the Ord was constructed under the Office of the Quartermaster General and had a metal relief Quartermaster Corps Branch Insignia mounted on the bow. (Hagley Museum & Library - Pusey and Jones Corporation Collection)

3. The ship was named in honor of Major General Edward Otho Cresap Ord. Ord was a distinguished Civil War era Union commander who also conducted the first land surveys of Sacramento and Los Angeles, California. (National Archives and Records Administration)

4. At the Pusey and Jones shipyard the Ord's hull was constructed using a complex system of scaffolds and wooden bracing. (Hagley Museum & Library - Pusey and Jones Corporation Collection)

5. Here we can see the intricate geometry involved in laying out the Ord's keel.
(Hagley Museum & Library - Pusey and Jones Corporation Collection)

6. Large overhead booms, cranes, and gantries were used to position the steel plates of the Ord's hull and decking. (Hagley Museum & Library - Pusey and Jones Corporation Collection)

7. Upon closer examination we can see the vertical steel plating of the main deck superstructure being assembled.
(Hagley Museum & Library - Pusey and Jones Corporation Collection)

8. With major steelwork completed after launching the Ord is moored next to an enormous lifting boom which is used to complete the ship's superstructure and help with finishing work.
(Hagley Museum & Library - Pusey and Jones Corporation Collection)

9. Here we see woodworkers framing up the wheelhouse and upper deck cabins. Just like the Mills, Frank, and Schofield the main deck cabins were constructed of steel plate while the upper deck cabins were made of pine. (Hagley Museum & Library - Pusey and Jones Corporation Collection)

Once turned over to the military the General Ord began service in 1909 with the US Army Coast Artillery Corps until the War Department established the Army Mine Planter Service in 1918. The ship was first stationed out of Fort Hancock at Sandy Hook, New Jersey in defense of New York Harbor. During much of the ship's career communications cable work was completed under command of the US Army Signal Corp under the umbrella of the Army Mine Planter Service.

10. The General Ord in service at Fort Wetherill, Rhode Island preparing to load sea mines, circa 1910. (Courtesy Andy Small from The Council on America's Past and Coast Defense Study Group)

11. The caption on the back of this World War I era vintage postcard states, "Each one of these mines contains 100 pounds of gun cotton and when laid explodes immediately when anything comes in contact with it like the keel or side of a ship. Here you see a crew from the U.S. mine planter General E.O.S. Ord, after mine planting practice off Fort DuPont (Delaware). While not especially new, this type of marine mine has played an important part in the great European struggle, and has sent many ships to the bottom. These mines are laid in the entrance of harbors to prevent the entrance of hostile ships." (American Colortype Corp - Photo International Film Service)

Like many of the Army's mine planters it appears the General Ord served in a number of different capacities depending on mission needs of the service. For example we know in the 1930s the Ord assisted at Sandy Hook with the Fort Hancock, New Jersey CMTC Camp and was used to tow artillery targets for off-shore for gunnery practice.

When WWII broke out on Dec 7th 1941 the USAMP Gen. Edward O.C.S. Ord was again stationed out of Fort Hancock, New Jersey and assigned under the Command of the Harbor Defenses of Sandy Hook and New York Harbor. In November of 1942 the War Department assigned all Mine Planters a Battery Number. The Ord became "The 5th Coast Artillery Mine Planter Battery" After 40 years at sea when WWII was over the General Ord was scrapped in 1948.

The 2nd General Samuel M. Mills

During WWII a new class of Army mine planters was constructed by the Marietta Manufacturing Company of Point Pleasant, West Virginia in 1942-43. Built for the U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps Mine Planter Service, these 16 Camanche class ships which were 189' in length displaced 1320 tons and were armed with one 40mm gun. In addition to mine laying operations many also did general cable laying work and may have installed indicator loops to protect harbors not covered by the Pequot. Compared to the 1909 generation of Army mine planters, the Camanche class ships where much more sophisticated and also equipped to lay cable. Most also saw service under the US Navy.


1. The Army Mine Planter the General Samuel M. Mills II steaming along the Ohio River. August 11^th 1942 Photo - Joyner Library, ECU.	2. Commandant General Samuel M. Mills 1894. Special Collections, US Military Academy Library, West Point

The General Samuel M. Mills (MP-4) was completed by Marietta in 1942 and served under the Army through the 1950s. She was sold in 1960 and became the Liberian Gran Canaria until scrapped in 1975.


3. The Marietta Manufacturing Company of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Photo - Joyner Library, ECU.	Marietta shipbuilding operations along the bank of the Ohio River March 9th 1945. Photo - Joyner Library, ECU.

The initials for the Marietta Manufacturing Company, M.M.C. also stood for its slogan, "Made Mechanically Correct." The company began in 1852 as a partnership known as W.F. Robertson & Sons Company of Beverly, Ohio. Robertson & Sons built stoves, capstans, boiler feed pumps, and other steamboat equipment. Located hundreds of miles from the nearest seaport, more than 70 ocean-going military vessels were built in Mason County West Virginia in the town of Point Pleasant by Marietta. Once launched off the riverbank into the Ohio River and completed, vessels from this shipyard had to navigate down the twisting Ohio into the Mississippi River and down to the Gulf of Mexico before heading into service in either the Atlantic or Pacific oceans.

During World War II, Marietta employed up to 2500 workers at its peak period. In addition to the Army Mine planters the company constructed four net tenders, fifty-three steam tugs for the U.S. Army, and two towboats for the Defense Plant Corporation. Marietta had an great working relationship with the U.S. government and in fact in 1944, the company received the Army-Navy "E" award for exceptional service for war-time production.


4. Here on July 16^th 1941 we see workmen along the bank of the Ohio River laying the ship's keel with steel plates against wooden forms and bracing as they begin to fabricate hull number 477. Click to enlarge. Photo - Joyner Library, ECU.	5. By August 4^th we can see the double bottom hull being fabricated as the first vertical bulkheads are installed. Click to enlarge. Photo - Joyner Library, ECU.


6. On September 2nd with help of a crane that moved along the river bank on rail tracks, we see a large steel plate being positioned into what will become the lower hold. Click to enlarge. Photo - Joyner Library, ECU.	7. The view from September 16^th shows in cross section the steel framework for the lower deck and lower hold being framed up. Photo - Joyner Library, ECU.


8. By October 4^th we can see the stern being fabricated using wooden forms braced with heavy duty scaffolding and supports. Photo - Joyner Library, ECU.	9. This port side view, also from October 4th, shows the distinctive triangular shaped framing for the ship's bow as we see progress being made on the installation of plates on the hull below. Photo - Joyner Library, ECU.


10. On October 16^thwe see the crane lowering a large steel plate which will be installed on the bow framework. Photo - Joyner Library, ECU.	11. By November 17^th it appears that the hull is completed behind the wooden scaffolding. Photo - Joyner Library, ECU.


12. On launching day, February 3rd 1942, we see that the ship has been painted, exterior scaffolding has been removed, and the Union Jack is flying proudly up at the bow. Click to enlarge. Photo - Joyner Library, ECU.	13. This view of the stern was taken shortly before the Mills II was launched off the river bank into the Ohio River. Photo - Joyner Library, ECU.


14. This close-up shows the ship's two massive propellers and drive shafts getting a final inspection before being submerged for the first time. Photo - Joyner Library, ECU.	15. Coming off the riverbank, The Samuel M. Mills II slides off the ways and into the Ohio River. Photo - Joyner Library, ECU.


16. We haven't been able to learn her name, but the launching sponsor of the Mills II is ready with flowers in hand on a cold February day in West Virginia. Click to enlarge. Photo - Joyner Library, ECU.	17. After righting itself we see the ship afloat for the first time. Much remains to be done to complete the ship's superstructure as well as all interior work, masts and rigging. Photo - Joyner Library, ECU.

18. Here on August 11^th 1942 we see the Samuel M. Mills II underway along the Ohio River before being turned over completely to the Army. Photo - Joyner Library, ECU.

19. The Major General Wallace F. Randolph (MP-7) sister ship to the 1942 mine layer General Samuel M. Mills during sea trials. (Special Collections Department, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina) Click To Enlarge. Photo - Joyner Library, ECU.

The 2nd General Royal T. Frank

1. The Army Mine Planter General Royal T. Frank (USAMP-12) and crew docked at Fort Miles, Delaware.
(Photo courtesy FortMiles.org archives).

After the 1909 mine planter the General Royal T. Frank was sunk in Hawaii by the Japanese after Pearl Harbor, a second ship of the same name was built for the US Army in 1942 by the Marietta Manufacturing Company of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. The Camanche Class Auxiliary Minelayer, USAMP Brigadier General Royal T. Frank (MS 12) was activated on the 28th of November 1942 and transferred to the Navy in 1944 and classified as ACM-11. She was reclassified several times and re-named The Camanche but was never commissioned in the U.S. Navy. The ship was sold in 1948. In 1961 she became the Pilgrim out of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.


2. A portside view of the General Royal T. Frank II on launching day October 31^st 1942. Click to enlarge. Photo - Joyner Library, ECU.	3. This stern view gives us a glimpse of the ship's rudder and twin screws before launching. Click to enlarge. Photo - Joyner Library, ECU.

4. Hull Number 485 is afloat for the first time as the second ship named to honor the Civil War general slides off the bank and into the Ohio river. Click image to enlarge.
Photo - Joyner Library, ECU.

5. Here we see a group of dignitaries gathered for the launching ceremony. By the rain splattered overcoats it looks like it was a cold rainy day in West Virginia on October 31st, 1942. We see Army officers and representatives of Marietta Manufacturing with the ship's "Sponsor" on the right holding flowers. Photo - Joyner Library, ECU). For a fun look at ship launching and sponsors see "Ladies Who Launch" at: http://www.phillyseaport.org/web_exhibits/ladies_who_launch/

6. After being fully fitted out, the Frank steams along the Ohio River on January 8^th 1943.
Click to enlarge. Photo - Joyner Library, ECU.

7. Sister ship to the General Frank, the mine planter Col. Horace F. Spurgin (MP-14) in 1950. Like the Pequot during WWII here we see the crew manually loading cable. (US Navy Photo)"

The General William M. Graham

1. The Army mine planter the General William M. Graham on the Deleware River during sea trials in late1917. Although very similar to the Mills, Frank, and Schofield, the Graham has an entirely different profile to her bow and a second forward mast. We can speculate that the structure above the wheelhouse may have been temporary and used during her shakedown runs. Click To Enlarge.

In 1917, nine years after the Mills, Frank and Schofield were built, the General William M. Graham was constructed at New York Shipbuilding under contract #194 to what appears to be very similar specifications. The Graham's keel was laid on April 2nd 1917 and she was constructed in shipway J. The ship was launched on August 29th, 1917 and after complete outfitting and sea trials was turned over to the War Department on January 3rd 1918. The ship was named to honor the U.S. Army Brigadier General William Montrose Graham who fought during the Civil War at Antietam and Gettysburg.


2. William M Graham September 1863 as an Army Captain. Library of Congress)	Contract for the construction of The Graham. Independence Seaport Museum Archives). Click to enlarge.

The Graham served as an Army mine planter primarily on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal Zone as part of the harbor defense of Cristobal and, in fact, was renamed the USS Panama City in 1947. The General William M. Graham fits into our Pequot tale since this ship was apparently the first combined mine planter and cable ship. She served at sea for 30 years until sold for scrap in Mobile, Alabama in 1948.


3. The Graham shortly before launching in 1917. We can see the twin three blade propellers and single rudder with temporary bracing. If you look carefully on the right you can spot the cables from the deck above to the wooden blocks under the hull which were pulled out during launching. Click To Enlarge.	4. Ernest W. Eickelberg Commanding Officer of the mine planter Graham 1918-19. National Geodetic Survey Photo.	5. The hull of the General Graham nearing completion in Shipway J. Notice the much larger ship being built on the left. Click To Enlarge.

Crew of the General William M. Graham during WWII with mascot (Courtesy Bernadette MacInnes)

After serving for 5 years in the Army's Coast Artillery Corps in the late 1930s, Stanley G. McInnes from Brooklyn, New York re-enlisted in March of 1942 and served in the Graham's engine room as an Oiler and Fireman during the Graham's WWII service in Panama.


Stanley McInnes during his service in Panama. (Courtesy Bernadette MacInnes)	Behind him we see the World War I era S-class submarine the USS S-17 which also served to protect the Panama canal during the war years. (Courtesy Bernadette MacInnes)

In these undated photos donated by his family we get a feeling for his service in the tropics of the Canal Zone, a long way from the chilly streets of Brooklyn.


	(Courtesy Bernadette MacInnes)

The Joseph Henry


(Photos by Aris Bilalis from Bill Burns' atlantic-cable.com)

The Pequot's sister ship the CS Joseph Henry served under the US Army as both a cable ship and mine planter. Click a Photo above to follow the story of this ship from her construction in 1909 to her service today as a floating museum in Athens Greece.

Special Thanks to Matt Herbison at the Independence Seaport Museum and Dale Sauter at East Carolina University for locating these historic construction photos for us.

Special Thanks to Ramon Jackson.
For more information on the history of the Coast Artillery Corps and the Army Mine Planter Service see:
http://patriot.net/~eastlnd2/army-amps.htm

Every effort has been made to trace and acknowledge copyright. The authors would welcome any information from people who believe their photos have been used without due credit.

Some photos have been retouched to remove imperfections but otherwise they are true to the original.

FEEDBACK

If you have comments or queries specifically about the Pequot or her Sister Ships, please contact
Chip Calamaio chipaz@cox.net, 938 E. San Miguel Avenue, Phoenix, 85014, Arizona, USA. (H) 602-279-4505.

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Research and design: Chip Calamaio and Richard Walding