Michigan Naval Brigade, Second Battalion Correspondence

Collection — Box: 1-2

Identifier: MS-536

Staff Only

Collection Scope and Content Summary

Correspondence, 1905-circa 1911, between commanders of the Michigan Naval Brigade, Second Battalion in Hancock, Michigan and various officials. Topics range from ill-fitting uniforms to munitions and troop and officer assignments. A large portion of the correspondence is from H. Stuart Goodell, commander of the YANTIC and owner of the South Range Mercantile Company in Painesdale. Also included is a "Boat Book," published by the U.S. Navy in 1905 and covers all topics related to proper boat handling, boat etiquette, drills, exercises and signalling.

Dates

1905-Circa 1911

Access

Available for use in the Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections.

Biography

The Michigan Naval Brigade or Naval Reserve was first organized as part of the State Militia in 1893 and operated out of Benton Harbor, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Hancock, and Saginaw. The state of Michigan had organized its own naval militia to teach its recruits the appropriate maneuvers. When the Spanish American War broke out in 1898, Michigan activated its reserves and the United States Navy began a program of providing decommissioned naval ships to train naval reserve units in several states. The Navy removed the U.S.S. YANTIC from general navy service in 1898 and loaned her to the naval militia of the state of Michigan to serve as training ship on the Great Lakes. From 1898-1907 the YANTIC served as a training ship for the local battalion in Detroit and then in 1907 the Detroit Brigade began to use the JUAN DE AUSTRIA for its training ship. The YANTIC went north to Hancock to serve the second battalion, Michigan Naval Militia and was stationed there until 1917 and the beginning of World War I.