by John Sherwin » November 11, 2014, 1:28 pm
Interesting part of Naval history. We could not have won WWII if not for the benefits of the Great Lakes, their related industrial production centers, steel, etc.
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 but we could.
But how did we train so many pilots in both comfort (calm seas) and safety (with 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 these out: The USS Sable and The USS Wolverine.
http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... =3&t=48962Interesting part of Naval history. We could not have won WWII if not for the benefits of the Great Lakes, their related industrial production centers, steel, etc.
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 but we could.
But how did we train so many pilots in both comfort (calm seas) and safety (with 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 these out: The USS Sable and The USS Wolverine.
http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=48962