USS Sable and USS Wolverine
—Jason
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The expansion of naval aviation in the United States armed forces during World War II is a key reason for America’s victory in the Pacific Theater of Operations. The newly constructed aircraft carriers and warplanes were essential components of this growth, but the demand for trained aircrews was equally important. The United States Navy created schools throughout the country to educate their new aviators. One of the most interesting aspects of this expansion is the conversion and operation of aircraft carriers for training in the Great Lakes.
Before World War II, the Great Lakes had multiple excursion cruise liners that moved passengers around the massive inland bodies of water. Some of the ships were simply ferries designed to carry people and goods to offshore islands, while others were smaller versions of the oceangoing liners that could carry hundreds of passengers on longer voyages. The states that enclose the five Great Lakes had consistently developed shipyards to construct the vessels that helped fuel their economies. Chicago, Illinois had developed as an industrial and economic powerhouse since the 1840s and had some of the largest naval and merchant docks in the region.
After the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, the US Navy needed to expand both its surface and aerial combat strengths. Orders for numerous heavy and light aircraft carriers had been authorized but these would take time to construction. The devastating effectiveness of aircraft attacking surface warships was proved time and again during the early months of the Pacific Campaign. The new carriers needed not just trained sailors, but hundreds of pilots and flight crews.
Learning to take off and land on regular, land airfields is difficult enough, but doing the same on a moving, rolling aircraft carrier demands exceptional skill. Using commissioned aircraft carriers for training posed several major problems for the US Navy: they were limited in number and high in demand, an aircraft carrier being used for training was a tempting target for enemy strikes, and the risk of accidentally damaging much needed carrier was too risky.
A solution for this dilemma was found when the US Navy purchased two of the large Great Lakes liners in 1941. The Greater Buffalo and Seeandbee had been requisitioned, converted, and renamed as the training carriers USS Sable and USS Wolverine. Because the weather conditions in Lake Michigan were sometimes like those on the oceans, Chicago was assigned as their homeport. This allowed both sailors and aircrew to train at Naval Station Great Lakes before shipping out to combat zones or other bases for further training.
The USS Sable and USS Wolverine underwent extensive refits during 1942 and 1943 to add a flightdeck, arrestor cables, and a bridge to each vessel. Because these had been luxury liners before their acquisition by the navy, there was no dedicated internal space for aircraft hangers, and so they were used strictly to train naval pilots how to take off and land on a moving warship. Both ships were classified as auxiliary craft not meant for use in combat areas, thus armament was not added to the ships.
By 1943, both training carriers were operating in Lake Michigan, putting pilots and landing officers through their paces. The fact that the training carriers had smaller flightdecks and were lower to the water added confidence to the newly minted airmen. Because of their familiarity of the physical features of the Great Lakes ships, naval aviators would have an easier time taking off and landing on the much larger fleet carriers.
The Sable and Wolverine continued serving as training ships until they were struck from the US Navy’s rooster in November 1945. World War II had official ended four months earlier, and the United States found it had a surplus of warships. The naval expansion begun in 1941 had added hundreds of vessels and many of these were no longer needed. 17,820 pilots were trained on the Sable and Wolverine over the course of 116,000 landings between 1943 and 1945, after which the ships were decommissioned and scrapped.