USS Canonicus (ID-1696)

USS Canonicus (ID-1696) USS Canonicus (ID-1696) in British waters in 1918.
Career (United States)
Name:	USS Canonicus
Namesake:	Canonicus (c. 1565-1647), a Native American chief of the Narragansett
Builder:	Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia
Launched:	7 October 1899
Acquired:	23 November 1917
Commissioned:	2 March 1918
Decommissioned:	7 August 1919
Fate:	Transferred to United States Shipping Board 1919 for return to owner
Notes:	Operated as commercial passenger-cargo ship El Cid c. 1900-1917
General characteristics
Type:	Minelayer (in 1918) Troop transport (in 1919)
Tonnage:	4,665 gross tons
Displacement:	7,620 tons
Length:	405 ft 1 in (123.47 m)
Beam:	48 ft 3 in (14.71 m)
Draft:	22 ft 6 in (6.86 m)
Speed:	15 knots
Armament:	1 x 5-inch (127-millimeter) gun 2 x 3-inch (76.2-millimeter) guns

For other ships of the same name, see USS Canonicus.

The second USS Canonicus (ID-1696) was a United States Navy minelayer and troop transport in commission from 1918 to 1919.

Canonicus was launched as the commercial vessel El Cid on 7 October 1899 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company at Newport News, Virginia. By 1917, the United States Shipping Board had taken control of El Cid from her owner the Southern Pacific Steamship Company. The U.S. Navy acquired her from the Shipping Board on 23 November 1917 for World War I service. Fitted out as a minelayer at Morse Dry Dock and Repair Company at Brooklyn, New York, she was assigned Identification Number (Id. No. 1696) and commissioned as USS Canonicus on 2 March 1918 with Commander T. L. Johnson, USN, in command.

File:USS Canonicus (ID-1696) in 1919.jpg

Canonicus in port in 1919 during her service as a troop transport.

Canonicus cleared Newport, Rhode Island, on 12 May 1918 with Mine Squadron 1, bound for Inverness, Scotland. Arriving on 27 May 1918, she operated out of Inverness and Invergordon, Scotland, planting the mines of the North Sea Mine Barrage. This precise, demanding work continued through the close of the war on 11 November 1918, after which she returned to Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 3 January 1919.

On 7 February 1919 Canonicus was assigned to the Cruiser and Transport Force. She made three voyages between the United States East Coast and France, returning 4,166 troops to the United States.

Canonicus was decommissioned on 7 August 1919, and returned to the United States Shipping Board for further transfer to her former owner, the Southern Pacific Steamship Company.

References

• This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

• Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS Canonicus (ID # 1696), 1918-1919