USS Sable and USS Wolverine

[Gunner1558]

I have lived near the Great Lakes all my life, and this is the first I heard of this WWll training!




The Great Lakes provided vital support for the war effort in WWII, from building 28 fleet subs in Manitowoc to providing the bulk of US industrial output.
We could not have won the war if not for the benefits of the Great Lakes and their related industry.

However there was another benefit of the lakes that is often overlooked. Japan quickly lost the war because, among many other things, its
navy could not replace its carrier pilot losses. We could. But how did we train so many pilots in both comfort (calm seas) and safety (no enemy subs)?
We took two old side-wheel Great Lakes passenger steamers and turned them into training carriers on Lake Michigan!
Virtually every carrier pilot trained in the war got his landing training on these amazing ships!
Sadly nothing but these great photos and the wrecks of the aircraft that ditched alongside them remain to tell their fascinating story!


Check this out! USS Sable and USS Wolverine





http://warbirdinformationexchange.or...hp?f=3&t=48962

[Schuetzenman]

Never knew of these. Nice job posting it.

[Full Otto]

I used to commute on I 65 a number of years ago
One day coming home I passed one of those salvaged planes on a trailer.
It was on its way to be restored.
One of my friends father trained on them

[davepool]

I just showed this to my wife, ( Michigan native) and she told me her dad worked on these ships and others installing radar systems during the war. I didn't know that, guess i could have asked.

Thanks for posting, i learned something i would never have known otherwise. She said her mom has photos of them somewhere, i'll have to check them out when i go to Michigan with her next year

[Bluedog]

I went to under-grad in Kalamazoo. Home of the K-zoo air zoo. They are just about always in the process of restoring something pulled out of lake Michigan. In case you guys didn't know, there are 28 Brewster Buffalos on the bottom of lake Michigan just waiting to be found. Until one gets pulled up, you have to rely on pictures.

[Full Otto]

I found some of the recovered ones down in Florida
Can't say the one I saw is one of them but it was headed in that direction
...........
Browse
http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/a...raft-exhibits/
sunken treasures page
http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/a...unkentreasures
dauntless
http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/a...unkentreasures
wildcat
http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/a...unkentreasures
wildcat
http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/a...m=fm-2_pacific
vindicator
http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/a...b2u_vindicator

[blacksheep]

Bright side of this they aren't in salt water so there is something left to restore.

[JTHunter]

Interesting history note Gunner.
Thanks!

[Full Otto]

I did some looking around for those Brewster Buffalo's got my curiosity up
According to these guys there aren't any at least from the training ships
They have a list here of what was used
http://www.warbirdinformationexchang...c.php?p=427215
The Navy used various aircraft types for training on these two vessels and, from the ship's logs and accident reports, it is known that a total of 143 aircraft were lost from 1942 through to 1945 costing the lives of 8 pilots. The number and types of planes that sank to the bottom of Lake Michigan are as follows: forty-one Grumman TBF/TBM Avengers, one Vought F4U Corsair, thirty-eight Douglas Dauntless, four Grumman F6F Hellcats, two Vought SB2U Vindicators, thirty-seven Grumman F4F/FM Wildcats, seventeen North American SNJ's and three TDN experimental drones. Many of the types were older aircraft that had served in the North African and Pacific Campaigns. The USN managed to salvage, from shallow water, six of the crashed airframes before the end of the War. The remaining 137 aircraft sat in a semi-preserved state for decades in a deep, fresh-water repository measuring 307 miles long by 118 miles wide. The Lake's average depth is 279'. Within the past several years approximately 40 airframes have been recovered by salvagers for the Navy. Most were found to be in good condition with tires inflated, parachutes preserved, leather seats maintained and engine crankcases full of oil. A sizeable portion of Lake Michigan's lost fleet of historic aircraft remains to be located and harvested. The USN still exercises control and ownership of these aircraft as they are considered to be, even after all these years, U.S. Government property.

I did find these though
Vultures Row Aviation
http://www.warbirdsnews.com/warbird-...-michigan.html
½ way down page
http://yankeedogsflyingcircus.blogsp...1_archive.html

Corsair F4u-1
http://wonderduck.mu.nu/military_history/warbird_up