Lewin of Greenwich Naval History & Forum

South Carolina Class Dreadnought Battleship USS Michigan pictured in 1910.

My , they loved the lattice framed masts in those days eh....

South Carolina Class Dreadnought Battleship USS Michigan pictured on June 30th 1909 and at Philadelphia Navy Yard on November 16th 1909.

Here is the poor old girl as a mere hulk.......... DFO

Here is a great shot of fore end of MICHIGAN being cut up in 1923. Note the division in those twin 12" turrets! DFO

South Carolina Class Dreadnought Battleship USS Michigan pictured at Philadelphia Navy Yard, being dismantled prior to her being sold for scrapping on October 16th 1923...Built at New York Shipbuilding Corporation, she was laid down in December 1906 and launched in May 1908; she was armed with a main battery of eight 12-inch guns in superfiring twin gun turrets; they were the first dreadnoughts to feature this arrangement....Michigan spent her career in the Atlantic Fleet. She frequently cruised the east coast of the United States and the Caribbean Sea, and in April 1914 took part in the United States occupation of Veracruz during the Mexican Civil War. After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Michigan was employed as a convoy escort and Training Ship for the rapidly expanding wartime navy. In January 1918, her forward cage mast collapsed in heavy seas, killing six men. In 1919, she ferried soldiers back from Europe. She 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 her sister South Carolina. Michigan was decommissioned in February 1923 and broken up for scrap the following year.

Lead Ship, Dreadnought Battleship USS South Carolina pictured in dry dock No 4 at Brooklyn Navy Yard on September 4th 1912.

MICHIGAN with a burst 12"........OWCH!

Per WIKI: " In September 1916, Michigan conducted gunnery practice with the old monitor Miantonomoh as a target, including night shooting drills on the 18th. On 21 September, during another round of shooting at Miantomomoh, the shell in the left gun in Michigan's forward superfiring turret exploded. The gun was severed where it exited the turret and fragments from the shell damaged the forecastle deck and the superstructure. One man was injured by a piece of debris. Michigan returned to the Philadelphia Navy Yard for repairs, arriving there two days later."

DFO

South Carolina Class Dreadnought Battleship USS Michigan pictured in May 1918.

South Carolina Class Dreadnought Battleship USS Michigan pictured on February 12th 1918.