The Scrapping of the U.S.S. Michigan

Abstract

In 1843 Erie witnessed the construction of an historic vessel along its shoreline, a vessel which would call Erie its home port for over one hundred years - the U.S.S. Michigan. She was the first iron-hulled battleship built in the world and served the United States Navy and the Pennsylvania Naval Militia for almost eighty years. Her form survived for 106 years, an impressive testament to a first attempt in an area of revolutionary technology. All that now remains is her bowsprit and anchor, placed as a monument at the foot of State Street, as well as various bits of memorabilia located in the Mariner’s Museum in Norfolk, Virginia, and smaller pieces still held by local families.