Photo intel

[mlees]

Please identify this ship:

[Tankerace]

Eier USS Wolverine or USS Sable, the 2 US Great Lakes Training Aircraft carriers. Ugly SOB's if you ask me.

[RBWhite]

mlees

This is very interesting photo, don't think I've this one before requires, Googling

My first quess would be a shipfitter nighmare.

[mlees]

Bah! Tankerace. I should've guessed. USS Wolverine it is.

I always was amused with the idea of "paddlewheeler" flattops...

They had no hangar deck, they were used on the Great Lakes as training carriers (for take offs and landings).

[Tankerace]

Imagine it in combat......BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mlees]

ORIGINAL: Tankerace

Imagine it in combat...

I cannot:

"The Sable and Wolverine were a far cry from combat carriers but were suitable for accomplishing the navy’s purpose-that of qualifying naval aviators fresh out of operational flight training in carrier landings. The two carriers had certain limitations such as having no elevators or a hangar deck. When barrier crashes or other flight deck crashes used up the alloted spots on the flight deck for parking dud aircraft, the day’s operations were over and the carriers headed back to their pier in Chicago.

Another problem they had to contend with was wind over the deck (WOD). Certain WOD minimums were required to land aircraft such as F6Fs, F4Us, TBMs and SBDs. When there was little or no actual wind on lake Michigan, operations often had to be curtailed because the carriers couldn’t generate sufficient speed to meet the WOD minimums. It is doubtful if the two carriers were capable of making more than 20 knots under their own power."

This found in the ship description page of http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ ... /ix-64.htm.

[warhead2]

it's an early 1900s great lakes, ferry ship converted for use as an aircraft training carrier