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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Wolverine (IX 31)
ex-Gunboat Michigan

Wolverine served both the U. S. Navy and the Pennsylvania Naval Militia.
Gunboat: The Navy's first iron-hulled warship was built in 1842 at Pittsburgh, PA, in parts, and carried overland to Erie, PA where she was assembled; Launched, 5 December 1843; Commissioned as USS Michigan 2 September 1844; Renamed Wolverine 17 June 1905 to clear the name Michigan for Battleship No. 27 and reclassified as an Unclassified Miscellaneous Auxiliary, IX-31; Decommissioned, 6 May 1912 and turned over to the Pennsylvania Naval Militia as a training ship. Mechanical problems ended her active career on 12 August 1923. Loaned to the city of Erie as a relic in 1927; Sold 19 July 1948 to the Foundation for the Preservation of the Original USS Michigan, Inc. Sold for scrap in 1949.

Specifications: Displacement 686 t.; Length 163' 3"; Beam 27' 1"; Draft 9'; Speed 8 kts; Complement 88; Armament one 18-pounder; Propulsion steam driven side wheeler.

Click on thumbnail
for full size image		 Size Image Description Source
USS Michigan
Michigan 49k . Historical Collections of the Great Lakes
Michigan 70k U.S. Navy photo from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships Naval Historical Center
Michigan 78k c. 1844. National Archives
Wolverine 75k Commander Francis A. Roe, USN. Lieutenant Commander Roe was made Commanding Officer in 1865 of the Great Lakes gunboat Michigan remaining in her until the spring of 1866. The original print is mounted on a carte de visite (calling card).
Photographed by Gurney & Son, New York, probably circa 1866-1867
Collection of Rear Admiral Francis A. Roe, USN. Donated by Miss Mary E. Mason, 1929
Naval Historical Center NH 46948-KN		 Bill Gonyo
Wolverine 102k Rear Admiral George H. Wadleigh, USN. Portrait photograph, taken circa 1902. In 1889-1891 Rear Admiral George H. Wadleigh, then Commander was the Commanding Officer of the Great Lakes gunboat Michigan. Promoted to Captain in mid-1894, he commanded the receiving ship Richmond until late in that year, and then took command of the new cruiser Minneapolis, in which he cruised in U.S., West Indian and European waters into 1897. Captain Wadleigh served at the Boston Navy Yard until June 1898, including some very busy months near the end of that tour as the Navy prepared ships for Spanish-American War operations. From July 1898 until December 1901 he was Commanding Officer of the cruiser Philadelphia, in the Pacific, and the receiving ship Wabash at Boston. He achieved the rank of Rear Admiral in February 1902 and was briefly Commandant of the Philadelphia Navy Yard and President of the Board of Inspection and Survey before retiring from active duty in June of that year. In retirement, Rear Admiral Wadleigh made his home at Dover, New Hampshire. He died on 11 July 1927.
Naval Historical Center NH 41904		 Bill Gonyo
USS Wolverine (IX 31)
Wolverine 50k Wolverine, anchored in Pine Lake. She was the only U. S. gunboat to patrol the Great lakes. Sam Inman
Wolverine 62k c. Early 1900s Robert Hurst
Wolverine 104k Photo probably taken whilst serving with the Pennsylvania State Naval Militia.
Photo from the 1914 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships		 Robert Hurst
View the Wolverine DANFS History
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