All four preceding were built at the Newport News Ship and Engine Building Company, Newport News, Va., as freight liners for the Southern Pacific Steamship Company (Morgan Line). Length 405 feet, beam 48 feet, draft 20 feet, displacement 7000 tons; single screw, 15 knots; one 5-inch 51-caliber gun aft, two 3-inch anti-aircraft guns forward; 830 mines normally, 900 maximum, carried on three decks; officers 21, crew 400; total 421. _Quinnebaug_—Commander D. Pratt Mannix, U.S.N. Launched October 14, 1898, named _Jefferson_; commissioned as minelayer March 23, 1918, at Robins’ Dry Dock and Repair Company, Brooklyn, N.Y. _Saranac_—Captain Sinclair Gannon, U.S.N. Launched in 1899, named _Hamilton_; commissioned April 9, 1918, at James Shewan & Sons, Inc., Brooklyn. Both were built by John Roach & Sons, Chester, Pa., as coastwise passenger and freight liners for the Old Dominion Steamship Company; length 375 feet, beam 42 feet, draft 18½ feet, displacement 5150 tons; single screw, 16 knots; one 5-inch 51-caliber gun aft, two 3-inch anti-aircraft guns forward; mines 612 normally, 642 maximum, carried on two decks; officers 18, crew 392; total 410. _Shawmut_—Captain W. T. Cluverius, U.S.N. _Aroostook_—Captain J. Harvey Tomb, U.S.N. Both vessels were launched in 1907 at Cramp’s Shipyard, Philadelphia, named _Massachusetts_ and _Bunker Hill_ respectively; commissioned as minelayers at Navy Yard, Boston, Mass., December 7, 1917; length 387 feet, beam 52 feet, draft 17½ feet, displacement 3800 tons; twin screw, oil fuel, 20 knots; one 5-inch 51-caliber and one 3-inch anti-aircraft gun on the middle line aft, one 3-inch anti-aircraft gun forward; 320 mines normally, 352 maximum, all carried on one deck; officers 20, crew 346; total 366. _Totals of Squadron_: Tonnage, 54,000 tons. Mines, normal 5530, maximum 5834. Officers 208, men 3839; total 4047. In addition, four seagoing tugs belonged to the squadron, as described in Chapter 22. CHAPTER NINE ATHLETICS A shortage of some mine parts that had encountered difficulty in manufacture now delayed the preparation for a second excursion, and the respite came opportunely, for we had been driving hard for some time.