Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online:
Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

Lake Michigan (ID 2993)



Civilian call sign (1919):
Love - Jig - Fox - Vice
Freighter:

  • Built in 1917 as War Finch by the American Shipbuilding Co., Cleveland, Ohio
  • Renamed Lake Michigan while under construction
  • Launched 22 September 1917
  • Acquired by the Navy 12 December 1917
  • Commissioned USS Lake Michigan (ID 2993), 31 January 1918
  • Decommissioned 4 October 1919 at New York and returned to the United States Shipping Board
  • Sold in 1920 to Lloyd Lloyd Royal Belge, S.A. of Antwerp, Belgium and renamed Picardier
  • Stranded 12 December 1923 in the Baltic Sea after breaking her rudder off Hernosand, Sweden during a blizzard and broke her back, a total loss.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 1,243 t.
  • Length 261'
  • Beam 43' 6"
  • Draft 17' 8½"9"
  • Speed 9 kts.
  • Complement 64
  • Armament: One 5"/51 mount and one 3"/50 mount
  • Propulsion: Two single-ended boilers, one 1,200ihp verticle triple-expansion steam engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Lake Michigan 47k Under construction as War Finch Historical Collections of the Great Lakes
    Lake Michigan 101k In port, possibly when inspected by the Third Naval District on 27 December 1917
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 10524    		 Robert Hurst
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR George Perry Woodward, USNRF30 January 1918
    02LCDR Hans N. Harmsen, USNRF1918
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    View the Lake Michigan (ID 2993)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back to the Identification Numbered Civilian Ships (ID) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster
    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by David Wright
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History