By the evening of December 7th, 1941, the majority of the U.S. Navy’s presence in Pearl Harbor was either submerged or ablaze. Around 200 Army and Navy aircraft were destroyed — primarily on the ground — or rendered inoperative.
However, amidst the turmoil, there was a glimmer of hope: the Pacific Fleet’s aircraft carriers were absent from Pearl Harbor at the time of the Japanese onslaught, thereby avoiding the catastrophic damage suffered by the once-majestic Battleship Row.
Historian John Winton would later remark that the Imperial Japanese Navy had inadvertently propelled the United States Navy into the era of the aircraft carrier.
As the United States was abruptly thrust into the throes of the Second World War, it possessed a fleet of eight aircraft carriers, with several more in various stages of construction. This newfound focus on carriers required a significant number of skilled pilots — aviators who had gained at least some carrier experience prior to deployment.
Yet all operational carriers were allocated to combat zones, leaving none available for training purposes.
Another challenge soon emerged. Effective carrier pilot training demanded uninterrupted execution — a requirement complicated by the submarine menace along both the East and West Coasts, which hindered continuous training in those regions.
Captain R. F. Whitehead proposed an inventive solution: conduct carrier pilot training in the secure waters of the Great Lakes. Captain D. W. C. Ramsey, the Assistant Chief of the Navy’s Bureau of Aeronautics, quickly recognized the potential and collaborated with Whitehead to develop a suitable training program.
In January 1942, the Navy began negotiations with the C&B Transit Company to acquire a large coal-powered side-wheel excursion steamer constructed in 1913 by the American Ship Building Company in Wyandotte, Michigan, known as the Seeandbee.
The transformation of the cruise ship took place at the Erie plant of the American Ship Building Company in Buffalo, New York. By August 1942, the vessel — formerly Seeandbee — was recommissioned as USS Wolverine.
Displacing 7,200 tons, measuring 500 feet in length with a beam of 58 feet 1 inch and a draft of 15 feet 6 inches, Wolverine was a substantial vessel. She operated on inclined coal-fired compound engines generating 8,000 indicated horsepower and featured four funnels due to her boiler uptakes. Her top speed reached 16 knots, and she carried no weapons.
The standard crew consisted of 325 personnel, and she was designated a miscellaneous auxiliary (IX-64). The ship’s name honored the Navy’s earliest iron-hulled vessel.
A small, distinctive island was added above the starboard paddle-box sponson, serving primarily to lead up the four funnels and provide the silhouette of an aircraft carrier, rather than offering the command and control functions found on true naval carriers. There was no hangar space for aircraft storage and no catapult system. A simple eight-wire arrestor setup was installed for securing landing aircraft, and radar equipment was never incorporated into the carrier arrangement.
Navigating Lake Erie from Buffalo, Wolverine reached Chicago on August 22nd, 1942 — despite battling a harsh summer storm. The welcoming party included Chicago Mayor Edward J. Kelly, Captain E. A. Lofquist (Chief of Staff for the Ninth Naval District), and members of the press.
Journalist Ward Walker of the Chicago Sunday Tribune described his reaction upon seeing Wolverine emerge from the mist at Madison Street. Visible from more than two miles away, her 500-foot flight deck seemed to hover above the water like a vast floating platform.
As though on cue, the weather abruptly cleared, bright sunlight spilled over the lake, and a flight of Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters from NAS Glenview dove overhead. Training operations began promptly, with aircraft landing and taking off from the newly converted carrier.
Navigating the turbulent waters of Lake Michigan posed risks, and with Wolverine’s flight deck only 26 feet above the water, pilots needed rapid altitude gain upon takeoff. Nevertheless, the majority of early training proceeded without significant mishaps.
In the first four months alone, more than 400 pilots were certified for carrier operations, completing upward of 3,000 takeoffs and landings.
Despite Wolverine’s success, the demand for carrier-qualified pilots soon outstripped her capacity. As a result, the Navy acquired another sizable Great Lakes passenger steamer — the SS Greater Buffalo — for conversion into a second training carrier.
This vessel, recommissioned as USS Sable, arrived near Chicago by mid-1943. Built in 1923 for $3.5 million by the American Ship Building Company, Greater Buffalo had been capable of carrying 2,120 passengers and 1,000 tons of cargo in her earlier role.
Her refit also took place in Buffalo. Slightly larger than Wolverine, Sable displaced 8,000 tons and stretched to 535 feet in length. Equipped with inclined compound engines producing 10,500 indicated horsepower, she could reach speeds of up to 18 knots. Like Wolverine, she burned coal, vented exhaust through two funnels, and carried no armament. A crew of 300 operated the vessel, designated IX-81.
Sable featured a more complex island structure, including an enclosed bridge and a sturdier mast. Like Wolverine, she lacked hangar storage and catapult systems. Notably, Sable became the first U.S. Navy aircraft carrier to feature a steel flight deck.
Enhancements during her conversion included two extensions for staging aircraft forward of the island and the installation of YE and YG navigation beacons.
With two carriers now available, the pace of training intensified. Operations began at dawn and concluded at sunset or when fog rendered landings unsafe. Pilots executed their required maneuvers and then returned to NAS Glenview. Aircraft were rarely left on deck overnight.
During a full day of training — roughly 14 hours — each vessel burned an average of 150 tons of coal at full steam.
Pilots earned their wings at Pensacola or Corpus Christi before arriving at NAS Glenview for carrier qualification. Before attempting deck landings, they practiced on runways marked to mimic carrier decks. Although pilots ideally trained in the aircraft types they would fly in combat, wartime shortages often forced substitutions.
As a result, fighter pilots typically trained in Grumman F4F Wildcats, while those headed for scout or bomber squadrons trained in North American SNJ Texans.
On a typical day, around 30 pilots completed qualification. However, on May 28th, 1944, Sable set a record: 59 pilots qualified in a single day, completing 498 landings in just 531 minutes.
The carriers also trained arresting-gear crews, who received hands-on instruction before deploying to escort carriers then under construction. Radar school instructors and technicians at Navy Pier in Chicago likewise benefited from shipboard training, as did thousands of other aviation personnel.
Operations continued year-round, unaffected by severe weather. In 1945, the Chicago region faced its coldest winter in 39 years, yet training operations continued without interruption. Navy journalists noted that, despite temperatures near zero, crew members remained at their stations from dawn to dusk. Ship medics even recorded a remarkable decrease in illness — attributed to specialized cold-weather equipment developed for the crew.
Wolverine and Sable continued to serve until the war’s end. Wolverine achieved approximately 65,000 landings, while Sable surpassed 51,000. By the conclusion of the conflict, carrier training operations on Lake Michigan had qualified over 12,000 pilots.
Wolverine was officially decommissioned on November 7th, 1945, transferred to the War Shipping Administration in 1947, and sold for demolition shortly afterward. Sable was decommissioned alongside her sister ship, transferred to the Maritime Administration, sold on July 7th, 1948, and dismantled soon after.
Though never intended for combat, the contributions of Wolverine and Sable to Allied victory at sea were immeasurable. They stood as valiant vessels in their own right.
