JEWELLLW@VM.CC.PURDUE.EDU (Larry W. Jewell) (02/20/91)
From: "Larry W. Jewell" <JEWELLLW@VM.CC.PURDUE.EDU>
Thanks to the information I received I tracked the sidewheeled carriers down.
Here's the bare bones:
SABLE (IX-81), formerly named GREATER BUFFALO, was built in 1924 by the
American Shipbuilding Co., Lorain, Ohio; acquired for Navy use on 7
August 1942 by WSA from the Detroit and Cleveland Navigation Co.,
Detroit Mich.; named SABLE on 19 September 1942; converted at the Erie
Plant, American Shipbuilding Co., Buffalo, N.Y.; and commissioned on 8
May 1943, Capt. William A. Schoech in command.
With the installation of a carrier deck, SABLE was designated for use as
a training vessel for qualification of carrier pilots. She was assigned
to the 9th Naval District <so the planes came out of the Chicago area?>
on 1 June 1943 and qualified pilots for carrier operations until decom-
missioned on 7 November 1945.
WOLVERINE (IX-64) (a side-wheel excursion steamer built in 1913) was ori-
ginally named SEEANDBEE. The Navy acquired the side-wheeler on 12 March
1942 and designated her an unclassified miscellaneous auxiliary, IX-64.
Conversion to a training aircraft carrier began on 6 May 1942, and commis
-sioned 12 August 1942.
As the Navy's first side-wheeled aircraft carrier, WOLVERINE was equipped
to handle plane take-offs and landings, a vital duty that she performed
for the duration of WWII. She contributed to the winning effort in WWII
by training hundreds of pilots in basic carrier operations. 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. <No
mention of his reaction to "yon wee beasty" ;-)>
Her task completed and the war over in the summer of 1945, WOLVERINE was
decomm issioned on 7 November 1945 and struck from the Navy list on 28
November 1945.
From: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Naval Historical Center,
Department of the Navy, Washington 1981