USS Michigan BB-27

 

(BB-27: displacement 16,000; length 452'9"; beam 80'3"; draft 24'6"; speed 18.5 knots; complement 869; armament 8 12-inch guns, 22 3-inch guns, 4 1-pounders, 2 .30 caliber machine guns, 2 21-inch torpedo tubes; class South Carolina)

The second USS Michigan (BB-27) was laid down on December 17, 1908, by the New York Shipbuilding Co., Camden, New Jersey, launched on May 26, 1908, sponsored by Mrs. F.W. Brooks, daughter of Secretary of the Navy Truman Newberry, and commissioned on January 4, 1910, with Captain N.R. Usher in command.

Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, Michigan conducted shakedown off the East Coast and in the Eastern Caribbean until July 7, 1910. Departing New York Harbor on July 29, the battleship then steamed along the New England and Middle Atlantic Coasts for maneuvers. On November 2, she departed Boston, Massachusetts, for a training cruise to Western Europe. After visiting Portland, England, she arrived in Cherbourg, France, on December 4. She sailed on December 30 for the Caribbean, touched Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on January 10, 1911, and reached Norfolk on the 14th.

Michigan operated along the Atlantic coast until setting out from the Virginia Capes on November 15, 1912, for a cruise to the Gulf of Mexico. After visiting Pensacola, New Orleans, and Galveston, she arrived in Veracruz on December 12. She headed for home two days later and reached Hampton Roads on the 20th. She operated along the East Coast until departing Quincy, Massachusetts, on July 8 for the Gulf Coast of Mexico to protect American interests endangered by civil strife in Mexico. The battleship anchored off Tampico on the 11th and remained alert off the Mexican coast until sailing for New York on January 13, 1914, reaching Brooklyn Navy Yard on the 20th.

She began a run from Norfolk to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on February 14 and returned to Hampton Roads in March. Underway again on April 16, she joined American forces upholding American honor at Veracruz. Reaching that troubled Mexican city on April 22, she landed a battalion of Marines as part of the main occupation force, then operated off the Mexican coast, heading home on June 20 and entering the Delaware Capes on the 26th.

Michigan next put to sea on October 21, 1914, and from that time until the eve of America's entry into World War I operated out of various ports on the Eastern seaboard. Assigned to Battleship Force 2 on April 6, 1917, the warship escorted convoys, trained recruits, and engaged in fleet maneuvers and battle practice. On January 15, 1918, while steaming in formation with the fleet off Cape Hatteras, Michigan's foremast buckled and was carried away over the port side as the battleship lurched violently in the trough of a heavy sea. Six men were killed and 13 injured, five seriously, in this accident. Michigan proceeded to Norfolk where the next day she transferred her casualties to Solace (AH-5). On the 22nd, she entered Philadelphia Navy Yard for repairs. In early April, she resumed operations off the East Coast and trained gunners in Chesapeake Bay until World War I ended.

Ordered to duty with the Cruiser and Transport Force in late December 1918, the battleship made two voyages to Europe, from January 28 to March 3 and from March 18 to April 26, 1919, returning 1,052 troops to the United States.

Following an overhaul at Philadelphia during May and June, Michigan resumed training exercises in the Atlantic until August 6, when she was placed in limited commission at Philadelphia Navy Yard. She next put to sea on May 19, 1920, sailing to Annapolis to embark midshipmen for a training cruise through the Panama Canal to Honolulu, Hawaii, arriving on June 3. The cruise continued to major West Coast naval bases and Guantanamo Bay before the battleship returned home on September 2. She returned to Philadelphia on September 5, and was placed in ordinary until sailing on April 4, 1921, for the Caribbean. Returning to Hampton Roads on April 23, she reached Annapolis on May 28 to begin her second midshipmen training cruise. She got underway on June 4 for Europe, visiting Kristiania, Norway, Lisbon, Portugal, and Gibraltar, and returning via Guantanamo to Hampton Roads on August 22. The veteran battleship put to sea on August 31 to make her final cruise up the Delaware River to Philadelphia, arriving on September 1. Michigan decommissioned at Philadelphia Navy Yard on February 11, 1922, and was stricken from the Navy list on November 10, 1923. In accordance with the treaty limiting naval armaments, she and four other battleships were scrapped by the Philadelphia Navy Yard during 1924. Materials from their hulls were sold to four different foundries.