True Blue Grit

May 26th, 2014 at 5:50 PM ^

they built during the war by converting existing merchant ships into small "mini-carriers".  They carried a very modest number of planes and were not very fast.  So, their main duty was to serve as protection for convoys or groups of merchant/support ships.  They served a very important function during WWII in the Atlantic and even more in the Pacific.  One of them, the U.S.S. Guadalcanal, helped in the capture of the U-505 which you can tour today at the Museium of Science and Industry in Chicago (highly recommended).  

cutter

May 27th, 2014 at 10:49 AM ^

USS Wolverine (IX-64) was a freshwater aircraft carrier of the United States Navy during World War II. The Navy converted her from a paddlewheeler coal-burning steamer in order to use her for advanced training for naval aviators in carrier take-offs and landings. The Navy decommissioned Wolverine in 1945 and sold her for scrap in 1947.

Wolverine—a side-wheel excursion steamer built in 1913—was originally named Seeandbee, a name based upon her owners' company name, the Cleveland and Buffalo Transit Co.  ]Her builder was the American Ship Building Company of Wyandotte, Michigan. The Navy acquired the sidewheeler on 12 March 1942 and designated her an unclassified miscellaneous auxiliary, IX-64; conversion to a training aircraft carrier began on 6 May.   The name Wolverine was approved on 2 August 1942 with the ship being commissioned on 12 August 1942.  Intended to operate on Lake Michigan, IX-64 received its name because the state of Michigan is known as the Wolverine State.

New abilities

Key to her mission was the 550 ft (170 m) flight deck that she received. Wolverine began her new job in January 1943; her sister ship, USS Sable (IX-81), joined Wolverine in May.

In conjunction with NAS Glenview, the two paddle-wheelers afforded critical training in basic carrier operations to thousands of pilots and also to smaller numbers of Landing Signal Officers (LSOs). Wolverine andSable enabled the pilots and LSOs to learn to handle take-offs and landings on a real flight deck.  Sable and Wolverine were a far cry from front-line carriers, but they accomplished the Navy's purpose: qualifying naval aviators fresh out of operational flight training in carrier landings.

Problems

Because Wolverine and Sable were not true carriers, they had certain limitations. One was that they had no elevators or hangar deck. When pilots used up the allotted spots on the flight deck for parking their aircraft, the day's operations were over and the carriers headed back to their pier in Chicago.

USS Wolverine (IX-64) underway in Chicago Harbor, 22 August 1942.

Another problem the two carriers had to contend with was (a lack of) wind over deck (WOD). Aircraft such as F6F HellcatsF4U CorsairsTBM Avengers and SBD Dauntlesses required certain minimum levels of WOD in order to land. When there was little or no wind on Lake Michigan, operations often had to be curtailed because the carriers couldn't generate sufficient speed to meet the wind on deck minimums.

Occasionally, when low-wind conditions persisted for several days and the pool of waiting aviators started to bunch up, the Navy turned to an alternate system of qualifications. The pilots qualified in SNJ Texans - even though most pilots had last flown the SNJ four or five months earlier.

End of career

 

Once the war was over, the need for such training ships also came to an end. The Navy decommissioned Wolverine on 7 November 1945; three weeks later, on 28 November, she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register.Woverine was then transferred to the Maritime Commission on 26 November 1947 for disposal. The last records indicate that the ship was sold for scrapping in December 1947.

XM - Mt 1822

May 26th, 2014 at 11:55 AM ^

past and present.  so heroic and so many have given so much, including their lives, families and even their bodies.   

nice to see brian's post with tom harmon's picture - it hangs in our fraternity, or at least it used to back in the day.   go blue!