Namesake:
FIRST USS MICHIGAN 1843-1922
The USS MICHIGAN, renamed the USS WOLVERINE, was the first
iron warship in the U.S. Navy and probably the first iron or
steel warship of her size in the world. She was originally
designed as a "three-mast, topsail schooner" with
auxiliary steam power.
The MICHIGAN was on duty on the Great Lakes during the
Civil War but never engaged in battle. In 1905 a new USS
MICHIGAN (BB27) was to be commissioned by the U.S. Navy. The
original MICHIGAN was renamed the WOLVERINE, after the MICHIGAN
state animal. About 1910 she was turned over to the Naval
Reserve as a Training Ship and remained active in this capacity
until 1922 when one of her engines broke down.
SECOND USS MICHIGAN (BB27)1910-1922
The second MICHIGAN (BB27) was laid down 17 December 1906
by New York Shipbuilding Co., Camden, NJ; launched 26 May 1908
and commissioned 4 January 1910. Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet,
MICHIGAN, with sister ship SOUTH CAROLINA, were the U.S. Navy's
first class of dreadnoughts or all big-gun battleships. The
layering of her main armament 12" guns and placement of all
turrets on the centerline was a novel arrangement which spread
as a universal battleship arrangement.
Prior to 1914 the battleship MICHIGAN operated in the
North Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and along the Atlantic
Coast. During World War I, the warship escorted convoys, trained
recruits, and engaged in fleet maneuvers. On 6 August 1919, the
MICHIGAN was placed in limited commission and conducted various
training cruises. MICHIGAN was decommissioned at Philadelphia
Navy Yard 11 February 1922 and was stricken from the Navy list
10 November 1923 in accordance with the treaty limiting naval
armaments. |
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