September 10, 1904 the cruiser Milwaukee was launched at Union Iron Works in San Francisco. The ship was christened by Miss Janet Mitchell, the daughter of Wisconsin senator John Mitchell. She broke the champagne on the bows at 11:30 a.m. and then Miss Lillian Jeffery gave the signal to launch the ship. A large crowd, including a number of Knights Templar, and various small craft were on hand to see the event, which went off without problems. USS Milwaukee (cruiser #21) served the U.S. Navy until Jan. 13, 1917 when she grounded off Eureka, California while trying to salvage the submarine USS H-3. Attempts were made to salvage the ship, but they all failed. In November storms broke the ship in half and the hulk was sold for scrap in August of 1919. While much of it was removed, much still remains where it was wrecked to this day.