Book review: Guardian of the Great Lakes.

[Sir_Davos_Seaworth]

Ye ole Amazon link https://www.amazon.com/Guardian-Great-Lakes-Frigate-Michigan/dp/0472066072/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1517355808&sr=8-7&keywords=guardian+of+the+great+lakes  but I found it at my local library...

 

Now, before I get started this one is about the first iron hulled ship in the USN. Here is her bare bones wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Michigan_(1843) 

 

Don't sound that interesting? Just wait till you read this book...while she never was in a great naval fight as we would picture it, she had a very long and varied life. If we just talked about the number of rescues she pulled off, it would make for an interesting tale. This was many years before the Coast Guard, and for decades the Michigan was the only ship with the horsepower and seakeeping ability to deal with the Great Lakes storms to save the crew of a sinking sail boat. 

One era of history I was ignorant of was the time of The Timber Pirates. Really. Not a joke. The Timber barons even put a hit out on the Michigan, and she got rammed by schooner...still not joking... and then there was the time she helped stop an Irish Nationalist army from invading Canada...no really, I can't make this stuff up. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes_Patrol#Timber_Rebellion 

So, as I hope you can see, she had life worth remembering, even if the Navy and her country did try to forget about her. 

Worth a read if you like this period of American history, or ships of that era... 

[bassmasta76]

I love Great Lakes history (grew up at the tip of Lake Michigan), so this aught to be a great read.  Thanks!

B