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.
From the description of Michigan Naval Brigade, Second Battalion Correspondence<CR> Correspondence, 1905-Circa 1911 1908-1911. (Michigan Technological University). WorldCat record id: 717324201
