dreadnought battleships built for the US Navy. She was laid down in December 1906, launched in May 1908, and commissioned into the fleet 4 January 1910. Michigan and South Carolina were armed with a main battery of eight 12-inch (305 mm) guns in superfiring twin gun turrets
; they were the first dreadnoughts to feature this arrangement.
Michigan spent her career in the
cage mast collapsed in heavy seas, killing six men. In 1919, she ferried soldiers back from Europe. The ship conducted training cruises in 1920 and 1921, but her career was cut short by the Washington Naval Treaty signed in February 1922, which mandated the disposal of Michigan and South Carolina. Michigan was decommissioned in February 1923 and broken up
triple-expansion engines rated at 16,500 ihp (12,304 kW) and twelve coal-fired Babcock & Wilcoxboilers, generating a top speed of 18.5 kn (34 km/h; 21 mph). The ship had a cruising range of 5,000 nmi (9,260 km; 5,754 mi) at a speed of 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph). She had a crew of 869 officers and men.[1]
armored belt was 12 in (305 mm) thick over the magazines, 10 in (254 mm) over the machinery spaces, and 8 in (203 mm) elsewhere. The armored deck was 1.5 to 2.5 in (38 to 64 mm) thick. The gun turrets had 12 inch thick faces, while the supporting barbettes had 10 inch thick armor plating. Ten inch thick armor also protected the casemate guns. The conning tower had 12 inch thick sides.[1]
US Navy.[1][2] After entering service, she was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet. She then began a shakedown cruise down to the Caribbean Sea that lasted until 7 June. Michigan joined training maneuvers off New England beginning on 29 July. A training cruise to Europe followed; she departed Boston, Massachusetts, on 2 November and stops included Portland in the United Kingdom and Cherbourg, France. She arrived in the latter port on 8 December and remained there until the 30th, when she left for the Caribbean. The ship reached Guantánamo Bay, Cuba on 10 January 1911 and continued on to Norfolk, Virginia, arriving four days later.[2] During this period, future naval aviation pioneer John Henry Towers served aboard the ship as a spotter for the main guns. The long range of the guns, which could shoot further than the horizon, convinced Towers of the need for spotter aircraft.[3]
The ship then cruised the east coast for most of the next two years. On 15 November 1912, she departed for a longer cruise to the
New Orleans, Louisiana, and Galveston, Texas, on the way. She then continued further south to Veracruz, Mexico, where she arrived on 12 December. Michigan remained there for two days before beginning the voyage home; she reached Hampton Roads on 20 December. Patrols off the east coast resumed for the first half of 1913. On 6 July, she steamed out of Quincy, Massachusetts, for another voyage to Mexican waters; this trip was prompted by the Mexican Civil War, which threatened American interests in the country. She arrived off Tampico on 15 July and thereafter cruised the Mexican coast until 13 January 1914, when she departed for New York City, arriving seven days later. She then transferred back to Norfolk.[2]
On 14 February, she left the port for a short voyage to
Philadelphia Navy Yard for repairs, arriving there two days later.[5][6]
World War I
Michigan's collapsed cage mast, January 1918
On 6 April 1917, the United States declared war on Germany over its
cage mast.[2] The ship had rolled to port in the heavy seas before rolling sharply back to starboard. The rapid change in direction caused the mast to snap at its narrowest point, which had been damaged in the 1916 barrel explosion and patched over.[7] The accident killed six men and injured another thirteen. Michigan steamed to Norfolk, transferred the injured men to the hospital shipSolace, and went to the Philadelphia Navy Yard for repairs, arriving on 22 January.[2]
By early April, Michigan was back in service; for the next several months, she primarily trained gunners in the Chesapeake Bay. While on a convoy escort that had left the United States on 30 September, the ship's port screw fell off. She was forced to leave the convoy on 8 October and return to port for repairs, remaining out of service for the rest of the war.[8] In November 1918, Germany signed the Armistice that ended the fighting in Europe. Michigan was assigned to the Cruiser and Transport Force in late December 1918 to ferry American soldiers back from Europe. She made two round trips in 1919 during the operation, the first from 18 January to 3 March, and the second from 18 March to 16 April, bringing back 1,062 men in the two voyages.[2]
Post-war period
Michigan steaming at high speed, c. 1918
In May, Michigan was sent to Philadelphia for an
midshipmen for a major training cruise. After departing Annapolis, the ship steamed south and transited the Panama Canal before proceeding to Honolulu, Hawaii, where she arrived on 3 July. Michigan visited several naval bases on the west coast of the United States through the summer: Seattle, San Francisco, San Pedro, and San Diego, before returning to Annapolis on 2 September. Three days later, she was back in Philadelphia, where she was temporarily decommissioned.[2]
Michigan was reactivated in 1921 for another cruise to the Caribbean, departing on 4 April. She returned to Philadelphia on 23 April;
Christiana, Norway, Lisbon, Portugal, and Gibraltar. She returned to Hampton Roads via Guantánamo Bay on 22 August.[2]
In the years immediately following the end of the Great War, the United States, Britain, and Japan all launched huge naval construction programs. All three countries decided that a new naval arms race would be ill-advised, and so convened the Washington Naval Conference to discuss arms limitations, which produced the Washington Naval Treaty, signed in February 1922.[10] Under the terms of Article II of the treaty, Michigan and her sister South Carolina were to be scrapped.[11]Michigan put to sea for the last time on 31 August, bound for the breaker's yard in Philadelphia. She arrived there on 1 September and was decommissioned on 11 February 1922. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 10 November 1923 and broken up for scrap the following year.[2]
Footnotes
Notes
^/45 refers to the length of the gun in terms of calibers. A /45 gun is 45 times long as it is in bore diameter.
United States
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Media related to USS Michigan (BB-27) at Wikimedia Commons