| Click On Image For Full Size Image | Size | Image Description | Contributed By And/Or Copyright |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 90k | "In times of peace the launching of a battleship is a gala event, attended by elaborate ceremonies and witnessed by enthusiastic throngs proud of the privilege of seeing the "marriage of the sea" of another man-of-war destined to upold the honor of America. In times of war, however, no such crowds as attended the Michigan's (BB-27) launching are admitted to the shipyards, for an enemy might, with a bomb undo the labor of years and destroy a formidable unit of our growing sea power." The Michigan is pictured here on her launching day, 26 May 1908 at New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, NJ. | Brown Brothers photo from the book "Flags Of The World", by McCandless and Grosvenor, published in 1917 by the National Geographic Society and submitted by John Chiquoine. | |
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46k | "New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, N.J." The ship in the covered wet slip has cage masts, after the fashion of Kansas (BB-21), New Hampshire (BB-25) and Michigan (BB-27), circa 1910nish. | Courtesy of New York Shipbuilding., yorkship.home.comcast.net. | |
 | 74k | Michigan (BB-27) underway, circa 1910. | U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 46274. | |
 | 118k | Navy Recruiting Poster, circa 1909. Poster featuring a sailor, a South Carolina class battleship, small craft and details on pay and benefits, published about 1909. | USNHC # NH 65452-KN. | |
 | 364k | Port side view of a model of the South Carolina (BB-26) at US Navy's Modeling Basin in VA. | Courtesy of Mike Ley. | |
 | 62k | Panoramic image (made from two individual views), showing U.S. Atlantic Fleet battleships and auxiliaries in Guantanamo Bay, circa the early or middle 1910s. Ships present include (in left half of image): four Virginia class (BB-13 / 17) battleships, one South Carolina class (BB-26 / 27) battleship, one Delaware class (BB-28 / 29) battleship, two unidentified auxiliaries and a collier; (in right half of image): all six Connecticut class (BB-18 / 22 & 25) battleships, both Mississippi class (BB-23 / 24) battleships, two unidentified auxiliaries, hospital ship Solace (AH-2) and a gunboat. | USNHC # NH 104537. Photo from the 1909-1924 album of Vice Admiral Olaf M. Hustvedt, USN (Retired). Courtesy of Rick Hauck, 2006. | |
 | 104k | Michigan (BB-27) at anchor, boats out, circa 1910-15. Photo clearly shows the main armament layout of eight 12" rifles in four center line turrets. The Michigan and South Carolina's (BB-26) design preceded the Dreadnought's design but building delays on the two ships allowed the Dreadnought to be launched and commissioned first which diminished the South Carolina class's impact on the naval scene. The United States ship's were of a superior design combining a powerful armament on a limited displacement. | USN photo. | |
 | 90k | Fleet Review, New York, 1911. | USN photo. | |
 | 84k | Fully dressed with flags and with her crew manning the rails, during the naval review off New York City, 3 October 1911. | U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # 19-N-61-6-25. | |
 | 94k | Firing a broadside with her 12"/45 main battery guns, 1912. Photographed by Enrique Muller. This image has been retouched to emphasize guns and masts. | U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 66299. | |
 | 516k | 16,000 tons of a smoky Michigan (BB-27) accompanied by a destroyer bear down on photographer Enrique Muller in this possibly circa teen's photo. | USN photo by Enrique Muller. NARA FILE #: 165-WW-334A-23. Photo # HD-SN-99-02142 from the the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil. | |
 | 103k | In New York Harbor, during the Naval Review, October 1912. | U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # 19-N-13573. | |
 | 103k | Post card Battleship series by N. L. Stebbins of Boston color showing a tinted photo of the Michigan (BB-27) underway, port side view, circa 1913. | Courtesy of Paul Petosky. | |
 | 65k | Stern view of Michigan (BB-27), possibly when riding at anchor with other ships when she was anchored off Tampico on the 15 July 1913 and remained alert off the Mexican coast until sailing for New York, 13 January 1914, reaching Brooklyn Navy Yard on the 20th. | USN photo courtesy of Robert Hurst. Partial text courtesy of DANFS. |  | 71k | U.S. Atlantic Fleet battleships steaming toward Mexican waters in 1914. Photograph copyrighted in 1914 by E. Muller, Jr., and Pach. The following battleships that were dispatched to Mexican waters included the: Ohio (BB-12), Virginia (BB-13), Nebraska (BB-14), Georgia (BB-15), New Jersey (BB-16), Rhode Island (BB-17), Connecticut (BB-18), Louisiana (BB-19), Vermont (BB-20), Kansas (BB-21), Minnesota (BB-22), Mississippi (BB-23), Idaho (BB-24), New Hampshire (BB-25), South Carolina (BB-26), Michigan (BB-27), Delaware (BB-28), North Dakota (BB-29), Florida (BB-30), Utah (BB-31), Wyoming (BB-32), Arkansas (BB-33), New York (BB-34) & Texas (BB-35) . In insets are (left to right): Rear Admiral Henry T. Mayo, Rear Admiral Frank F. Fletcher, Rear Admiral Charles J. Badger. | USNHC # NH 60322. |
 | 95k | Photographed circa 1914. | U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 73772. | |
 | 117k | Taking on coal from a Navy collier, while off Vera Cruz, Mexico, in April-June 1914. Note ship's band atop Turret # 2, playing to encourage the crewmen at work moving coal. | U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 73774. | |
 | 115k | Vera Cruz Incident, 1914. Men of the Michigan (BB-27) Battalion on the outskirts of Vera Cruz, circa late April 1914. They are wearing dyed "Whites" and are armed with a Colt M1895 machine gun and M1903 rifles. Note the colorful bandannas worn by two of these men. | U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 100616. | |
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62k | "Sam Taylor of the Michigan (BB-27) winning the middle weight championship of the Atlantic Fleet from Mike Davis of the New Hampshire (BB-25)." | Photo by International News Agency, courtesy of memory.loc.gov. Text courtesy of N.Y. Times, 16 May 1915, Page 1. Photo added 02/16/08. | |
 | 62k | "Battleship South Carolina (BB-26) at a distance of nine miles, firing on a target seen between the towers of water during the naval games in Chesapeake Bay, just concluded. The observers on a sister ship in the foreground are only a few hundred yards away." | USN photo by Enrique Muller Jr, courtesy of memory.loc.gov. Text courtesy of N.Y. Times 31 October 1915, page 8. Photo added 02/16/08. | |
 | 75k | View looking aft along the port side, showing barrel of burst 12-inch gun on deck with the gun's rear portion in Turret # 2. Photographed at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, 25 September 1916. Note holes in superstructure and in the "cage" foremast caused by this accident. | U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 61254. | |
 | 100k | View of damage to upper deck and winch received when the left 12" gun mount of Turret Two burst. Taken at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, 28 Sept. 1916. | U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 46293. | |
 | 56k | U.S. Atlantic Fleet at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, circa 1916-1917. Second section from left (of six) of a panoramic photograph taken from the Naval Station radio tower. Among the ships present are: battleships South Carolina (BB-26) and Michigan (BB-27) (toward the left, in no particular order); destroyers Drayton (left center) and Aylwin (center, middle distance); and a battleship that is either Wyoming (BB-32) or Arkansas (BB-33) (right foreground). | U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 76418, courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation, Washington, D.C. Donation of MMC Jesse Forton, USN (Retired), 1972. | |
 | 72k | Photographed by O.W. Waterman, Hampton, Virginia, circa 1916-17. She is wearing horizontal "two-tone" paint scheme, possibly a camouflage experiment. | U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 86376. | |
 | 322k | Port side view of the Michigan (BB-27) underway, circa 1916. | Photo by E. Muller, Jr. Contributed by Roy C. Thomas from the book,"The United States Navy", published in 1919. | |
 | 126k | View looking aft from atop Turret # 2, showing Michigan's (BB-27) collapsed "cage" foremast, which had buckled in an Atlantic storm on 15 January 1918. Photographed at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, 28 January 1918. Note details of armored conning tower, and tripod-mounted rangefinder atop it. | U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 46283. | |
 | 65k | Leviathan (ID # 1326) in New York Harbor, 1918, with a tug steaming by on the right and a battleship in the left background.
Photographed by E. Muller, Jr., 198 Broadway, New York City, and printed on postcard stock. The ship in the photo is either South Carolina (BB-26) or Michigan (BB-27) (this is the after portion of the ship we see). The significant tell-tales are the "step-in" on visible funnel and its distance from the main mast (other dreadnought classes crowded the funnels and mast together) and the location of end of the foredeck. The foredeck for the Delaware class(BB-28 / 29) and Florida class(BB-30 / 31) ended near the fore mast, whereas here we see most of the secondary battery gunhouse atop the foredeck (rather than casemates in the hull) and the foredeck continuing aft to the mainmast before stepping down to the main weather deck. The structure between the funnel and mast is the kingpost of the portside boat crane with a 3" gun platform on top; in this class the starboard side crane was situated outboard of the forward funnel. The size and shape of the fighting top is also consistent with the a South Carolina Class. The barrels of the No. 4 are concealed by the bow of the Leviathan but the turret is visible. The structure sitting above where the No. 3 turret should be as well as that, which extends from it to the Leviathan's bow above the No. 4 Turret would seem to belong to another ship anchored beyond the BB, its funnel being visible above the Leviathan's foredeck (note the black funnel cap). Throughout 1918, both ships were on training duty and convoy escort along the east coast until the Armistice when both were used as transports to bring troops home. To determine which of the 2 BB's this is, it would be helpful to know when each would have made port in NYC at the same time as the Leviathan. The Leviathan reportedly received her dazzle scheme in March 1918 at Liverpool, while postwar photos (March 1919) show her sporting an overall drab (probably gray) scheme. As the photo does not show her decks teeming with GI's we can assume that the photo shows her entering harbor after taking a load of troops to Europe (i.e. pre-armistice). During this time she made 8 trips to Europe. NHC attributes dazzle photos of the Leviathan in NYC in early July and Mid April. Leviathan was painted out of camouflage by 16 December 1918, when she arrived at N.Y. with 8000 homeward-bound troops on board, and was almost certainly painted overall gray before leaving for France to pick up that batch of Soldiers, which (given her transit speed of about 23 knots) would have been about two weeks earlier (say, late November or very early December). As for what Leviathan was doing at the time the photo was taken, I can't say for sure. It is possible that the Leviathan was returning to New York (actually across the Hudson River at Hoboken, N.J., which was her base) after taking troops to France. However, she might also just be shifting position in N.Y. Harbor. | U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 105389. Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2007. Photo I.d. courtesy of Chris Hoehn & David C. Nilsen. Additional text courtesy of Charles R. Haberlein Jr. | |
 | 77k | Underway 1919. | USN photo courtesy of Larry Bonn. | |
 | 65k | Port side, 1919. | USN photo courtesy of Larry Bonn. | |
 | 69k | Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania. Older warships in the Reserve Basin, 18 November 1919, as seen by a Philadelphia Evening Ledger photographer. Ships are (front row, left to right): Missouri (BB-11); one Connecticut class battleship; Michigan (BB-27); and Saint Louis (C-20). Those in the back row are (left to right): Maine (BB-10); Kentucky (BB-6);Kearsarge (BB-5); Indiana (BB-1); Massachusetts (BB-2); Iowa (BB-4); Wisconsin (BB-9); and Illinois (BB-7). | U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 42525. | |
 | 143k | Entering Honolulu Harbor, Hawaii, "with the U.S. Fleet Second Observation Group," 7 March 1920 photo showing the ship in her final appearance. Range clocks and turret deflection scales have been added. Due to her short length superstructure, boats are carried amidships. Broadside 3" gun shutter doors are open here, but the guns have been removed. | USN photo. | |
 | 138k | The Michigan (BB-27) is shown at the end of her career, awaiting the breakers, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, 26 October 1923. Details of her bridge and upper deck are clear. Note the small chart house at the base of her mast and the flimsiness of the weather protection around her flying bridge. many photos of this type were taken to prove the U.S. was complying in accordance with the Washington Naval Treaty. | Photo and text courtesy of U.S. Battleships: An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. | |
 | 82k | 5 January 1925 photo of the Michigan (BB-27) being scrapped at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in accordance with the Washington Naval Treaty. | USN photo. | |
 | 371k | A guest studies a painting depicting the history of battleships. The artwork was painted by George Skybeck and presented to the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association during their annual banquet at Honolulu, Hawaii, on 8 Dec 1991. | USN photo # DN-SC-92-05391, by PHC Carolyn Harris, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil. | |
Additional Michigan Images
2 General Views Of Michigan From The Library Of Congress Server.
USS MICHIGAN BB-27 History
View This Vessels DANFS History Entry
(Located On The Hazegray & Underway Web Site, This Is The Main Archive For The DANFS Online Project.)
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
Not Applicable To This Ship
Additional Resources
Hazegray & Underway Battleship Pages By Andrew Toppan.
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