USS Michigan ( 1843 ) USS " Michigan was the United States Navy ' s first iron - hulled warship and served during the American Civil War . She was renamed USS " Wolverine in 1905 . Early career . " Michigan " operated on the Great Lakes out of Erie , Pennsylvania , throughout her career . In May 1851 , she assisted in the arrest of Mr . James Jesse Strang , known as " King James I " , who headed a dissident Mormon colony on Beaver Island at the head of Lake Michigan , some from the Straits of Mackinac . Strang was soon freed , but was assassinated by two of his followers on 19 June 1856 . The assassins fled to " Michigan " for sanctuary and were taken to Mackinac and released . In an encounter with Great Lakes " timber pirates " in the 1850s , a steamer rammed " Michigan " . The pirate vessel was badly damaged in the maneuver , and was captured . " USS Michigan " was the first iron - hulled ship in the US Navy . When she was rammed in the early hours of 6 May 1853 , in southern Lake Huron , by the wooden - hulled " Buffalo " , the Michigan was badly damaged , but the Buffalo proceeded south towards the St . Clair River and was not " captured . " Despite this , the " Michigan " assisted in arresting several of the timbermen who had been stealing timber in Michigan . Additional information is available in " The Development of Governmental Forest Control in the United States , " by Jenks Cameron , The Johns Hopkins Press , 1928 ; and in " Guardian of the Great Lakes , " by Bradley A . Rogers , The University of Michigan Press , 1996 . American Civil War . During the American Civil War , " Michigan " was armed with a 30 - pounder Parrott rifle , five 20 - pounder Parrott rifles , six 24 - pounder smoothbore s , and two 12 - pounder boat howitzer s . The Confederate States of America considered launching attacks against the North from Canada . Early in 1863 , Lieutenant William Henry Murdaugh , CSN , planned to lead a group of Confederate naval officers to Canada where they would purchase a small steamer , man her with Canadians and steam to Erie to board " Michigan " and use her against lock s and shipping on the Great Lakes . However , Confederate President Jefferson Davis didn ' t approve the plan . " Michigan " cruised on the Great Lakes during most of the war providing an element of stability and security . On 28 July 1863 , a short time after New York City had been seriously shaken by riots , Commander John C . Carter commanding " Michigan " reported from Detroit , " I found the people suffering under serious apprehensions of a riot . . . The presence of the ships perhaps did something toward overawing the refractory , and certainly did much to allay the apprehensions of the excited , doubting people . " During August 1863 , " Michigan " was called on for similar service in Buffalo , New York . During 1864 , rumors of Confederate conspiracies in Canada were heard again . In March , Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles ordered " Michigan " to be " prepared for active service as soon as the ice will permit . " In the autumn , the Confederates finally struck . Led by Acting Master John Yates Beall , 20 Confederates embarked on the steamer as passengers and soon seized her . They next captured and burned the steamer . Meanwhile , Captain Charles H . Cole , CSA , a Confederate agent in the Lake Erie region , was attempting to gain the trust of " Michigan " s officers as the " Michigan " lay off Johnson ' s Island helping to guard Confederate prisoners . However , Commander Carter discovered Coles duplicity and had him arrested before Beall reached Johnson ' s Island on " Philo Parsons " . When the prearranged signals from shore were not made , Beall reluctantly abandoned his plan and retired to Sandwich ( now Windsor , Ontario ) where he stripped and burned " Philo Parsons " . Later U . S . Navy service . After the Civil War , " Michigan " remained in U . S . Navy service , and was the ship which intercepted and interned the army of the Fenian Brotherhood as it returned from its invasion of Canada near Buffalo in 1866 . " Michigan " was renamed USS " Wolverine " on 17 June 1905 to free up the name " Michigan " for use by the new battleship . " Wolverine " was decommissioned on 6 May 1912 . Pennsylvania Naval Militia service . " Wolverine " was turned over to the Pennsylvania Naval Militia , which she served for 11 years , making training cruises in the summer for the United States Naval Reserve . For the 1913 centennial of the War of 1812 Battle of Lake Erie , " Wolverine " towed the brig from port to port as part of the celebrations . In mid - 1920 , when the U . S . Navy adopted its modern alphanumeric hull number system , she was classified as a " miscellaneous auxiliary " and designated IX - 31 . On 12 August 1923 , a connecting rod of " Wolverine " s port cylinder broke , ending her active career . Relic . In 1927 , " Wolverine " s hulk was pushed up onto a sandbank in Misery Bay on the Presque Isle State Park Peninsula and loaned to the city of Erie , Pennsylvania , as a relic . She was sold to the Foundation for the Preservation of the Original USS " Michigan " , Inc . , on 19 July 1948 . But when fund - raising efforts failed to acquire sufficient money for her restoration and preservation , she was cut up and sold for scrap in 1949 to the Ace Junk & Salvage Company . Sam Tanenbaum , proprietor , donated the prow back to the city of Erie . In 1950 , " Wolverine " s prow was erected as a monument in Wolverine Park in Erie , near the shipyard where she had been built . On 22 February 1988 , the prow was moved to the Erie Maritime Museum for restoration . Today it can be viewed inside the museum .