PADDLE WHEEL FLATTOPS OF THE GREAT LAKES — Vintage Wings of Canada (2024)

Whenever I picture in my mind the great coming of age of the aircraft carrier, I think of the gargantuan fleet carriers of the US Navy in the Second World War—rust streaked, heaving in cold grey seas, driving through heavy swells under a threatening sky. I see them also on a brilliant day, under a hot white-blue sky stained by the black bruises of a hundred flak bursts, tracers frantically arcing, training on a lone Japanese aircraft piloted by a gritty young flyer who believes he is already dead.

I see the knifing blur of a Zero as it drives deep into the water beside the cliff-like sides of an American carrier, the tumbling remnants of a Kamikaze, throwing out a spiral of red flame and oily smoke. I see a grey steel mesa, bristling with quadruple “forties”, and gun tubs brilliant with hot brass shell casings. I hear the pounding of five-inch guns, the rhythm of the Bofors. I see a distant deck roiling with orange explosions and thick black volcanic smoke rising. I see a helmeted chaplain giving the last rites. I see a white shroud flapping.

These were the carriers with triumphant American names like Lexington, Bunker Hill, Randolph, Saratoga and Essex—30 to 40 thousand tons, 180,000 shaft horsepower, 100 aircraft, 2,500 men. They could be found off mythic islands with haunting names—Tarawa, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Peleliu and Saipan. These were the legends of my youth, surrounded by task forces, played like chess pieces by admirals, draped in battle honours. These were mighty weapons, ships of the line with an admiral's flag snapping from the halyard. From their bridges, men like Halsey, Nimitz, Spruance and Fletcher gazed out to their destinies.

But there were other carriers. Slow-moving, coal-burning, side paddlewheel ships that had no battle honours, no complement of aviators or their aircraft; no protecting screen of cruisers and destroyers. These were the two land-locked carriers of the Great Lakes, having more in common with Mark Twain's Mississippi riverboats than all-out warfare on the far side of the planet. They steamed under no great threat save winter ice and the famed white squall. They never saw the open sea, never tasted salt water or blood. They did not venture far into the unknown. They berthed at the same dock every night. They didn't knife the water at 30 knots, driven by three screws and 180,000 shaft horsepower, instead they flapped across shallow waters driven by the thump of ancient steam engines and the swishing of leviathan paddlewheels.

They would never see Tarawa or Okinawa, but they were a common sight off Milwaukee, Racine, Muskegon and Waukegan. They took their place in carrier history without guns, armoured decks, hangar decks, catapults, admirals, or a single battle. They were not named after the great battles for Independence, or founding fathers, but bore the names of woodland animals, albeit fearsome ones. These were the coal smoke belching, paddlewheel foaming, freshwater, land-locked training carriers of the Great Lakes—USS Wolverine and USS Sable.

S.S.Seeandbeeand USSWolverine(IX-64)

S.S.Greater Buffaloand USSSable(IX-81)

On 29 July 1942, as the ship that was in time to be commissioned as USSWolverine(IX-64) was nearing the end of her conversion to a carrier, the United States Navy's Auxiliary Vessels Board convened to assess a report from the Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) which stated that additional carrier training capability was still needed in order to meet demand for qualified pilots and that possibly two similar inland freshwater carriers would be needed to fulfill the same training role asWolverine.

BuAer suggested a phased approach, to build one new carrier along similar lines and a third if required at a later date. The Navy's Bureau of Ships (BuShips) made a recommendation to purchase two additional paddlewheel Great Lakes steamers of similar type toWolverine, only newer. These were the two famous D&C liners S.S.Greater Buffaloand her sister excursion liner S.S.Greater Detroit.

These two ships, constructed in the 1920s, were the largest passenger ships servicing the Great Lakes and, as of the 1930s, had become the largest side-wheel passenger steamers left in the world. Navy inspectors had confirmed that they were suitable for conversion and that they were in very good physical condition. Both ships were about 30' longer thanWolverine, but were otherwise set up in much the same manner with large steel hulls and massive paddle boxes amidships.

A more complete inspection was made ofGreater Buffalo, which had a speed of about 18 knots—similar toWolverine's. The Board recommended thatGreater Buffalobe acquired first and converted along the lines ofWolverine. It was also recommended, since the hull was longer, that the flight deck be increased in length as well and that outriggers and a crane be provided to facilitate the handling of damaged aircraft.

The shipyard began the conversion much the same as withWolverine.As inWolverine, the ship was stripped of structure to the hull. A flight deck and island were then built on the hull. Unlike USSWolverinewith her oak flight deck, which was common to all fleet carriers of the day, USSSablehad a flight deck made of steel decking topped with eight types of commercial non-skid coatings. It was a floating test bed.

When USSSabledeparted Buffalo on 22 May 1943, she arrived at her new home port ofChicago, Illinoison 26 May 1943.Sable, along withWolverine, was assigned to the 9th Naval District Carrier Qualification Training Unit (CQTU) and was employed in the role of training pilots for carrier operations on fleet carriers. Following the end of the Second World War,Sablewas decommissioned on 7 November 1945 and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 28 November 1945. She was sold by theMaritime Commissionfor scrap, to H. H. Buncher Company on 7 July 1948 and was reported as“disposed of” on 27 July 1948.

Together,SableandWolverinetrained 17,820 pilots and took the beating of more than 116,000 carrier landings. Of these, 51,000 landings were onSablealone. During an inspection conducted by the admiral on 27 October 1942, she briefly flew the four-starred flag of the Commander in Chief of the United States Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Ernest J. King. One of the pilots qualified onSablewas a 20-year-oldLieutenant, junior gradeand future President of the United States of America, George H.W. Bush. Some 130–200 aircraft were lost to accidents during Great Lakes carrier training. So far, 35 have been pulled from the bottom. What is truly astonishing is that in 116,000 carrier landings, almost all by nascent carrier pilots, only 8 men were killed.

Naval Training School—Navy Pier, Chicago

Home port for USSWolverineand USSSable

The War in the Great Lakes

Naval Air Station Glenview, Illinois

Flying Operations on USSSableand USSWolverine