USS South Dakota ( ACR - 9 ) The second USS " South Dakota " ( ACR - 9 ) , also referred to " Armored Cruiser No . 9 " , and later renamed " Huron " ( CA - 9 ) , was a United States Navy " Pennsylvania " - class armored cruiser . She was launched on 21 July 1904 by the Union Iron Works , San Francisco , California , sponsored by Grace Herreid ( daughter of Charles N . Herreid , Governor of South Dakota ) , and commissioned on 27 January 1908 , Captain James T . Smith in command . Service history . Pre - World War I . Assigned to the Armored Cruiser Squadron , Pacific Fleet , " South Dakota " cruised off the west coast of the United States through August 1908 . On 24 August , she departed San Francisco for a cruise to Samoa and headed eastward in September to operate in Central and South American waters . In the autumn of 1909 , she deployed westward with the Armored Cruiser Squadron . The force called at ports in the Admiralty Islands , the Philippines , Japan , and China , before returning to Honolulu on 31 January 1910 . In February , " South Dakota " joined to form a Special Service Squadron which cruised off the Atlantic coast of South America and then returned to the Pacific late in the year . Following operations along the Pacific coast during much of 1911 , " South Dakota " began a cruise in December with the Armored Cruiser Squadron which took her from California to the Hawaiian Islands , the Marianas , the Philippines , and Japan . After returning to the west coast in August 1912 , she participated in periodic squadron exercises until she was placed in reserve on 30 December 1913 at the Puget Sound Navy Yard . Detached from the Reserve Force , Pacific Fleet on 17 April 1914 , " South Dakota " made a cruise southward into Mexican waters in June and another westward to the Hawaiian Islands in August . She returned to Bremerton on 14 September and reverted to reserve status on 28 September . She was the flagship of the Reserve Force , Pacific Fleet , from 21 January 1915 until relieved by the protected cruiser on 5 February 1916 . She remained in reduced commission through 1916 , and on 5 April 1917 she was again placed in full commission . World War I . Transferred to the Atlantic after the United States entered World War I , " South Dakota " departed Bremerton on 12 April . She joined sister ships " Pittsburgh " , " Pueblo " , and " Frederick " at Colón , Panama , on 29 May ; thence proceeded to the South Atlantic for patrol duty operating from Brazilian ports . On 2 November 1918 , she escorted troop convoys from the east coast to the mid - Atlantic rendezvous point where British cruisers joined the convoy . Following the Armistice , " South Dakota " made two voyages from Brest , France , to New York , returning troops to the U . S . Post war . In the summer of 1919 , " South Dakota " was ordered back to the Pacific to serve as flagship of the Asiatic Fleet , arriving at Manila on 27 October . " South Dakota " was renamed Huron - - - in order to free up her original name for use with the projected USS " South Dakota " ( BB - 49 ) - - - on 7 June 1920 and was designated CA - 9 on 17 July 1920 . She served in the Asiatic Fleet for the next seven years , operating in Philippine waters during the winter and out of Shanghai and Chefoo during the summer . Ordered home , " Huron " departed Manila on 31 December 1926 and arrived at the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 3 March 1927 . She was decommissioned on 17 June and remained in reserve until she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 November 1929 . She was sold on 11 February 1930 for scrapping in accordance with the London Naval Treaty . " Huron " was stripped down to the waterline and then sold to the Powell River Company , Ltd . In August 1931 , the ship was towed to Powell River , British Columbia , Canada , to serve as a floating breakwater for a large logging mill . She was preceded the previous year by the former cruiser . " Huron " was anchored into position and rainwater was periodically pumped out to ensure she remained afloat . On 18 February 1961 , a storm flooded the hulk of the old cruiser , and she sank in of water , where she remains to this day . Coincidentally , some of the iron for her hull came from Texada Island , merely from her Powell River resting place .