The Michigan seen here later in life as the USS Wolverine
Career
Awarded:	�
Laid down:	1842
Launched:	5 December 1843
Commissioned:	29 September 1844
Decommissioned:	6 May 1912
Fate:	Renamed Wolverine, 17 June 1905. Scrapped in 1949
Stricken:	6 May 1912
General Characteristics
Displacement:	685 tons
Length:	163 feet
Beam:	27 feet
Draft:	9 feet
Powerplant:	Steam
Speed:	8 knots
Complement:	88 officers and men
Armament:	One 18 pounder

USS Michigan was the United States Navy's first iron-hulled warship and served during the American Civil War. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (634x666, 48 KB) USS Wolverine (IX-31) The iron sidewheeler Michigan, renamed Wolverine late in her life to allow her original name to be given to a new battleship (Battleship No. ... The source for an SVG image of the United States Navy jack can be found at USN Jack. ... 1842 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... December 5 is the 339th day (340th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1843 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... September 29 is the 272nd day of the year (273rd in leap years). ... 1844 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... May 6 is the 126th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (127th in leap years). ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... June 17 is the 168th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (169th in leap years), with 197 days remaining. ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... May 6 is the 126th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (127th in leap years). ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for conducting naval operations around the globe. ... Combatants United States of America Confederate States of America Commanders Abraham Lincoln† Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis Robert E. Lee Strength 2,213,363 1,064,200 Casualties KIA: 110,100 Total dead: 359,500 Wounded: 275,200 KIA: 94,000 Total dead: 258,000 Wounded: 137,000+  The American...

Michigan was designed by naval constructor Samuel Hart; fabricated in parts at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the last half of 1842; and carried overland to Erie, Pennsylvania, where assembled. When Hart attempted to launch this pioneer steam man of war 5 December 1843, she slipped down the ways some 50 feet but halted and stuck before reaching water. After strenuous but fruitless efforts to prod the ship into resuming her descent were ended by darkness, the shipwrights retired for the night. But upon returning to the shipyard before the next morning, Hart found the ways empty. Some distance offshore Michigan floated easily in Lake Erie, after launching herself in the night. She commissioned 29 September 1844, Commander William Inman in command. City nickname: The Steel City Location in the state of Pennsylvania Founded 1758 Mayor Tom Murphy (Dem) Area  - Total  - Water 151. ... Official language(s) None Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 33rd 119,283 km² 255 km 455 km 2. ... 1842 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The Erie skyline, facing south from Presque Isle State Park across Presque Isle Bay Presque Isle State Park, known to locals as the peninsula. ... A man of war (also man-of-war, man-o-war or simply man) is an armed naval vessel. ... December 5 is the 339th day (340th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1843 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Lake Erie, looking southward from a high rural bluff near Leamington, Ontario Lake Erie (pronounced ) is one of the five large freshwater Great Lakes in North America, which are among the largest in the world. ... September 29 is the 272nd day of the year (273rd in leap years). ... 1844 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

Michigan was built by the Navy for defense of Lake Erie after the British Government had armed two steamers there during the Canadian rebellion. Secretary of the Navy Abel P. Upshur had selected iron for her hull “to use the immense resource of our country in that most valuable metal” and “to ascertain the practicability and utility of building vessels, at least for harbor defense, of so cheap and indestructible a material." Flag of the United States Secretary of the Navy. ... Abel Parker Upshur (June 17, 1790–February 28, 1844) was a American statesman. ...

Michigan operated on the Great Lakes out of Erie, Pennsylvania, throughout her career. In May 1851, she assisted in the arrest of Mr. James Jesse Strang, known as “King James I,” who headed a dissident Mormon colony on Beaver Island at the head of Lake Michigan, some 40 miles from Mackinac. Strang was soon freed, but 5 years later was assassinated by two of his followers 19 June 1856. The assassins fled to Michigan for sanctuary and were taken to Mackinac and freed. The Great Lakes from space The Great Lakes are a group of five large lakes on or near the United States-Canadian border. ... 1856 daguerreotype of James Strang, taken on Beaver Island, Lake Michigan, by J. Atkyn, one of his assassins. ... The neutrality of this section is disputed. ... Beaver Island is the largest island in Lake Michigan and part of the Beaver Island archipelago. ... Sunset on Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. ... Mackinaw or related spellings is the name of several different places and things, mostly related to the area where Lake Michigan meets Lake Huron. ... June 19 is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 195 days remaining. ... 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

During the Civil War the Confederacy considered launching attacks against the North from Canada. Early in 1863, Lt. William Henry Murdaugh, CSN, planned to lead a group of southern naval officers to Canada where they would purchase a small steamer, man her with Canadians and steam to Erie to board Michigan and use the prize against locks and shipping on the Great Lakes. However, President Jefferson Davis would not approve. Combatants United States of America Confederate States of America Commanders Abraham Lincoln† Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis Robert E. Lee Strength 2,213,363 1,064,200 Casualties KIA: 110,100 Total dead: 359,500 Wounded: 275,200 KIA: 94,000 Total dead: 258,000 Wounded: 137,000+  The American... Motto: Deo Vindice (Latin: With God As Our Vindicator) Anthem: God Save the South (unofficial) Dixie (popular) Capital Montgomery, Alabama February 4, 1861–May 29, 1861 Richmond, Virginia May 29, 1861–April 9, 1865 Danville, Virginia April 3–April 10, 1865 Largest city New Orleans February 4, 1861–May 1... 1863 (MDCCCLXIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see Jefferson Davis (disambiguation). ...

Michigan cruised on the lakes during most of the war providing an element of stability and security. On 28 July, a short time after New York City had been seriously shaken by riots, Commander John C. Carter commanding Michigan reported from Detroit “I found the people suffering under serious apprehensions of a riot....The presence of the ships perhaps did something toward overawing the refractory, and certainly did much to allay the apprehensions of the excited, doubting people.” During August Michigan was called on for similar service at Buffalo, New York. During 1864, rumors of Confederate conspiracies in Canada again were rife. In March, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles ordered Michigan “prepared for active service as soon as the ice will permit.” In the fall, the Confederates finally struck. Led by Acting Master John Yates Beall, 20 southerners embarked on Philo Parsons as passengers and soon sieged the steamer. They next captured and burned steamer Island Queen. July 28 is the 209th day (210th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 156 days remaining. ... Nickname: The Big Apple Official website: City of New York Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Geographical characteristics Area Total 468. ... Motto: Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus (We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes - this motto was adopted after the disastrous 1805 fire that devastated the city) Nickname: The Motor City and Motown Location in Wayne County, Michigan Founded Incorporated July 24, 1701 1815  County Wayne County Mayor... Official website: Buffalo, NY Location Location of Buffalo in New York State Government County Erie County Mayor Byron Brown Geographical characteristics Area Total 136. ... Official language(s) None, English de facto Capital Albany Largest city New York City Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 27th 141,205 km² 455 km 530 km 13. ... 1864 (MDCCCLXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Flag of the United States Secretary of the Navy. ... Gideon Welles (July 1, 1802–February 11, 1878) was the United States Secretary of the Navy from 1861 to 1869, including the entire duration of the American Civil War: his dedication to naval blockades was one of the key reasons for the Norths victory over the South. ...

Meanwhile Captain Charles H. Cole, CSA, a Confederate agent in the Lake Erie region, was attempting to ingratiate himself with Michigan's officers as the Union steamer lay off Johnson's Island helping to guard Confederate prisoners. However, Commander Carter discovered Cole's duplicity and had him arrested before Beall reached Johnson's Island in Philo Parsons. When the prearranged signals from shore were not made, Beall reluctantly abandoned his plan and retired to Sandwich, Canada, where he stripped and burned his prize. Johnsons Island was the site of a prisoner-of-war camp for Confederate officers captured during the American Civil War. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

After the war, Michigan continued her service, and was the ship which intercepted and interned the army of the Fenian Brotherhood as it returned from its invasion of Canada near Buffalo, New York in 1866. Michigan was renamed USS Wolverine 17 June 1905. She decommissioned 6 May 1912. She was turned over to the Pennsylvania Naval Militia which she served for 11 years making training cruises in the summer for the U.S. Naval Reserve. On 12 August 1923, a connecting rod of her port cylinder broke ending her active career. In 1927, she was pushed up on a sandbank in Erie Harbor and loaned to the city of Erie as a relic. She was sold to the Foundation for the Preservation of the Original USS Michigan, Inc., 19 July 1948. But when fundraising efforts failed to acquire sufficient money for her restoration and preservation, she was cut up and sold for scrap in 1949. The next year her bow and cutwater were erected as a monument, near the shipyard where she had been built. The Fenian Brotherhood was an Irish nationalist organization based in the United States in the mid-nineteenth century. ... Official website: Buffalo, NY Location Location of Buffalo in New York State Government County Erie County Mayor Byron Brown Geographical characteristics Area Total 136. ... June 17 is the 168th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (169th in leap years), with 197 days remaining. ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... May 6 is the 126th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (127th in leap years). ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... August 12 is the 224th day of the year (225th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... July 19 is the 200th day (201st in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 165 days remaining. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ...

See also

See USS Michigan and USS Wolverine for other ships with the same name. Three ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Michigan in honor of the U.S. state of Michigan. ... The USS Wolverine was a freshwater aircraft carrier of the US Navy during World War II. She had been converted from a paddlewheeler coal-burning steamer to be used for advanced training for naval aviators in carrier takeoffs and landings. ...

References

• This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
• This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register.

The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS for short) is the primary reference work for the basic facts about every ship ever used by the United States Navy. ... The Naval Vessel Register (NVR), official inventory of ships and service craft in custody or titled by the United States Navy, traces its origin back to the 1880s. ...

External links

• history.navy.mil: USS Michigan
• navsource.org: USS Michigan