The YANTIC was launched at Philadelphia on March 19, 1864, at the US Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Originally she was to be a presidential yacht for Abraham Lincoln but at the time a gunboat was needed more than a presidential yacht. She measured 180 feet in length and 30 feet in beam, and was a three-masted bark with an auxiliary steam engine.
Photo at top of page: YANTIC built 1864, photo dated August 2 1905
On August 12, 1864, the USS YANTIC was commissioned. She was named for a river in Connecticut. She saw action late in the Civil War and then served in the ocean fleet from 1865 to 1897. While being steam powered, she relied more on her sails while cruising.
In 1897, the navy removed YANTIC from the active fleet and loaned her to the state of Michigan for use as a training ship by the naval militia. For freshwater service her rigging was changed substantially leaving only the foremast, and she received new engines. YANTIC was based at Detroit until 1907 when she moved to Hancock, Michigan.
Her voyage from Boston to the Great Lakes in the fall of 1897 was not an easy one. Below are just a few of the newspaper articles describing her two month trip.
Washington, D. C. Oct. 6, 1897. – Secretary Long yesterday gave the necessary orders for the sailing from Boston of the YANTIC and her delivery to the State of Michigan for the use of the Naval Militia. The old ship will sail under her own steam sometime between the 12th and 15th instant. She will be under the command of Commander S. W. Moore, U. S. N., who will have with him a crew of forty sailors. Lieutenants Newberry and Lothrop, representing the State of Michigan, will sail with the YANTIC, and upon her arrival at Montreal will formerly receive the ship from the hands of Commander Moore in behalf of the State.
All of the alterations in the ship’s trim necessary to secure her safe passage through the St. Lawrence canals will be made at Montreal at the expense of the Michigan authorities.
Of the sailors aboard 10 will be placed aboard the United States ship MICHIGAN at Erie, six will be retained aboard the YANTIC permanently as ship keepers and the remainder of the crew will be shipped back to Boston from Montreal by rail. (Buffalo Evening News, Wednesday, October 6, 1897, p. 6)
The poor old gunboat YANTIC staggered along under a gale the other day when making for the St. Lawrence and her pumping apparatus got out of order. Then a derangement of another part of her machinery was discovered and she was forced to put about for Halifax, where she could not give the British flag a salute, her guns having been taken. How the Canadians can have the heart to show any fear of the YANTIC is beyond all efforts at guessing. (Buffalo Evening News, Saturday, October 23, 1897)
Montreal, Que., Oct. 30. – The United States steamer YANTIC arrived here this evening in command of Commodore Moore, United States Navy. The YANTIC sustained very little damage from her collision with the CANADIENNE yesterday. She went into a berth and will be lightered in order to enable her to get through the canals. She will then be transferred to the representatives of the State of Michigan and proceed to Detroit. (Buffalo Evening News, Sunday, October 31, 1897, p. 1)
YANTIC IS IN DETROIT
Detroit, Mich., Dec. 8. – The long anticipated United States steamer YANTIC arrived at 1 o’clock this morning after a long and vexatious voyage from Boston The ship is now in possession of the Detroit Naval Reserve. (Buffalo Evening News, Wednesday, December 8, 1897, P. 7)
YANTIC in Milwaukee for the Oliver Hazard Perry Centennial in 1913
In addition to training local units in Michigan, YANTIC also took part in maneuvers with other state naval militias on the lower lakes. YANTIC visited Milwaukee and then Green Bay in August 1913 as part of a centennial celebration commemorating Oliver Hazard Perry’s victory over a British fleet in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812.
YANTIC in Milwaukee at the State Street Bridge, 1917
YANTIC with USS ESSEX (built 1874) in Ogden Slip, Chicago, August 8, 1919
When the United States entered World War I, YANTIC was brought back into the navy fleet and moved to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station north of Chicago. After the armistice, YANTIC was assigned to the Ohio Naval Reserve based in Cleveland.
In 1926, YANTIC was again decommissioned and loaned to the state of Michigan where she sank at her dock in 1929.
On May 9, 1930, the gunboat YANTIC was burned, on purpose, in the Detroit River. Her burnt remains were filled in and over as part of the Belle Isle bridge approach. The planned cremation of the 66 year old wooden steamer was due to her sinking at her dock on October 22, 1929, in five minutes, during an autumn gale – reason – natural deterioration. Her anchor is on display in front of the Detroit Naval Armory with a memorial plaque.
Suzette Lopez
Photo credit: Great Lakes Marine Collection of the Milwaukee Public Library and Wisconsin Marine Historical Society
