Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

SSGN 727 Michigan

USS Michigan guided-missile submarine arrived 25 April 2017 at the southern port of Busan, South Korea, amid tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The USS Michigan is one of four Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines loaded with nuclear missiles. The 170-meter-long, 18,000-ton submarine can carry as many as 150 Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of some 1,600 km. The Michigan's call on South Korea came amid mounting tensions on the peninsula.

USS Michigan is one of four Ohio-class guided-missile submarines. The Navy's guided-missile submarines provide the Navy with unprecedented strike and special operation mission capabilities from a stealthy, clandestine platform. Armed with up to 154 tactical missiles and equipped with superior communications capabilities, guided-missile submarines are capable of launching missile strikes and supporting Special Operation Forces (SOF) missions. Measuring more than 560 feet long and displacing more than 18,000 tons when submerged, Michigan is one of the largest submarines in the world.

USS MICHIGAN (SSBN-727) was the second TRIDENT Class Nuclear Powered Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine to have been constructed at the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut. MICHIGAN was commissioned on 11 September 1982 and is the third United States Navy vessel to bear the name of the state. MICHIGAN arrived in Bangor on 16 March 1983 and has completed thirty-three Strategic Deterrent Patrols. After arriving in Bangor in March 1983, Michigan would carry out her primary mission of deterrence for nearly 20 years, conducting more than 60 strategic deterrent patrols.

At the conclusion of the Cold War, Michigan, Ohio and two sister ships - USS Florida (SSBN 728) and USS Georgia (SSBN 729) - were considered for decommissioning. Instead, the Navy chose to convert the Ohio-class seaframe to carry Tomahawk land attack missiles (TLAMs) or other payloads in lieu of ballistic missiles.

The Michigan entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard sometime in late 2003 to begin a Refueling Complex Overhaul and to be converted to an SSGN. Following more than three years of reconfiguration at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Michigan rejoined the fleet as a guided-missile submarine on June 11, 2007, following in the footsteps of Ohio. Florida and Georgia would also be converted into SSGNs in the following years.

In addition to their makeovers, Michigan and Ohio began forward-deployed operations out of Polaris Point, Guam - much as their SSBN forerunners did throughout the Cold War. Similarly, the Kings Bay, Ga. -based Florida and Georgia operate out of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

In their current role, Michigan and her fellow SSGNs stand ready to support U.S. operations around the world, as Florida did by launching Tomahawks during Operation Odyssey Dawn in Libya in 2011. And Michigan has continued to prove her readiness to defend the nation by capturing the prestigious Battle Efficiency Award, or Battle "E", for Submarine Squadron 19 in back-to-back years - the Blue Crew won in 2010, while the Gold Crew took home the 2011 award. The 2015 award for SUBRON 19, based in Bangor, Washington was to the Ohio-class guided missile submarine USS Michigan (SSGN 727), whose Gold Crew was commanded during the competition by Capt. Benjamin Pearson and Capt. Gustavo Gutierrez, and whose Blue Crew was commanded during the competition by Capt. Erik Burian and Capt. Joseph Turk.

USS Michigan (SSGN 727) arrived at Busan for a visit as a part of its deployment to the Western Pacific, 23 June 2015. With a crew of approximately 165, Michigan will conduct a multitude of missions and showcase the latest capabilities of the submarine fleet. Although USS Michigan (SSGN 727) only moved a few dozen yards 08 July 2016 when it left Dry Dock 2 for nearby Pier 5, the brief journey was a major step forward for the sub, the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), and the Navy. Michigan's undocking marked the beginning of the end of a Major Maintenance Period that began in August 2015 and included complex repairs in the sub's sail, superstructure, engineering spaces and missile compartments. It also included the historic installation of the first submarine living quarters for enlisted female Sailors.

Major alterations and improvements in the submarine's ability to navigate and communicate, as well as the first berthing of enlisted women, sets the course to return this warship as a standard bearer for the fleet. The complex task of constructing living quarters for enlisted women aboard Michigan required a team effort from PSNS & IMF, Electric Boat and Michigan's crew. Their mission was to accommodate up to three female chief petty officers without a change to the total complement of 20 CPOs, and to accommodate from nine to 36 women crew members without changing the total complement of 120. They accomplished this in part by enlarging the forward washroom, adding four showers by converting a bunkroom into shower space, splitting the aft washroom to allow for a shower/head combo and a watchstander head, and creating a new bunkroom from the old crew's study.

The First Michigan

The USS MICHIGAN, renamed the USS WOLVERINE, was the first iron warship in the U.S. Navy and probably the first iron or steel warship of her size in the world. She was originally designed as a "three-mast, topsail schooner" with auxiliary steam power.

The MICHIGAN was on duty on the Great Lakes during the Civil War but never engaged in battle. In 1905 a new USS MICHIGAN (BB27) was to be commissioned by the U.S. Navy. The original MICHIGAN was renamed the WOLVERINE, after the MICHIGAN state animal. About 1910 she was turned over to the Naval Reserve as a Training Ship and remained active in this capacity until 1922 when one of her engines broke down.

BB 27

The second MICHIGAN (BB27) was laid down 17 December 1906 by New York Shipbuilding Co., Camden, NJ; launched 26 May 1908 and commissioned 4 January 1910.

Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, MICHIGAN, with sister ship SOUTH CAROLINA, were the U.S. Navy's first class of dreadnoughts or all big-gun battleships. The layering of her main armament 12" guns and placement of all turrets on the centerline was a novel arrangement which spread as a universal battleship arrangement.

Prior to 1914 the battleship MICHIGAN operated in the North Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and along the Atlantic Coast. During World War I, the warship escorted convoys, trained recruits, and engaged in fleet maneuvers. On 6 August 1919, the MICHIGAN was placed in limited commission and conducted various training cruises.

MICHIGAN was decommissioned at Philadelphia Navy Yard 11 February 1922 and was stricken from the Navy list 10 November 1923 in accordance with the treaty limiting naval armaments.