USS Wolverine (IX-64)
USS Wolverine in Chicago harbor on 22 August 1942.
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | Seeandbee |
Owner | Cleveland and Buffalo Transit Company |
Builder | Detroit Shipbuilding Company,[4] Wyandotte, Michigan |
Yard number | 190[3] |
Launched | 9 November 1912[2] |
Maiden voyage | 19 June 1913 |
Identification | United States Official Number 211085[1] |
Fate | Sold to the C & B Transit Company of Chicago for $135,000 |
United States | |
Name | Seeandbee |
Owner | C & B Transit Company of Chicago |
Fate | Sold to the United States Navy 12 March 1942 for $756,500[note 1] |
United States | |
Name | USS Wolverine |
Namesake | Wolverine |
Acquired | 2 March 1942 |
Commissioned | 12 August 1942[7] |
Decommissioned | 7 November 1945[7] |
Renamed | Wolverine on 2 August 1942[7] |
Refit | 6 May 1942 |
Stricken | 28 November 1945[7] |
Homeport | Chicago, Illinois (9th Naval District Carrier Qualification Training Unit) |
Identification |
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Honors and awards | |
Fate | Transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal 26 November 1947 and sold for scrap December 1947[7][8] |
General characteristics | |
Type | Side wheel paddle steamer |
Tonnage | |
Displacement | 7,200 long tons (7,300 t)[7] (Wolverine) |
Length | 500 ft (150 m)[2] |
Beam |
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Draft | 15.5 ft (4.7 m)[7] |
Decks | 5 |
Installed power |
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Speed | 22 miles per hour (35.4 km/h; 19.1 kn)[2] |
Complement | 270[7] (Wolverine) |
USS Wolverine (IX-64) was a
Seeandbee was acquired by the
As a genuine flattop, Wolverine was shorter, and her flight deck closer to the water, than many of the fighting aircraft carriers of the day. Though unsuited for combat, she was highly functional in her pilot training mission.The first aircraft landing on USS Wolverine occurred during September 1942.[15] From 1943 until the end of the war in 1945 USS Wolverine along with her sister ship USS Sable was used for the training of 17,000 pilots, landing signal officers and other navy personnel with minimal losses.[16][17] Following the end of World War II the Navy decommissioned Wolverine on 7 November 1945 and she was sold for scrap in December 1947.
Design and construction
Seeandbee was designed by naval architect
The ship was built by the Detroit Shipbuilding Company, soon to be acquired and renamed American Ship Building Company, of Wyandotte, Michigan.[19][20] Seeandbee, the largest side-wheel steamer in the world at the time, was launched on 9 November 1912.[2] According to the Interstate Commerce Commission the ship's tonnage was 6,381 GRT and 1,500 DWT.[9]
The interior design was by Louis O. Keil and luxury was a key element. Passengers boarded through a
Seeandbee featured a main saloon on the promenade deck that extended almost 400 ft (121.9 m) in length. This area was subdivided into sections including a book shop, flower booths, an observation room as well as separate writing rooms for men and women.[2] A number of private parlors were constructed, each was different design and contained beds, a private bath and balconies. When an orchestra played on its own balcony at the end of the main saloon the music could be heard in the parlors, the saloon, above in the atrium, and in the ladies drawing room.[2] On the gallery deck was the ladies drawing room in Italian Renaissance style with built in seats and above, on the next deck, was an Atrium with sleeping rooms adjoining.[2] Amidships on the gallery deck was the lounge with seating and provision for light refreshments.[2] Passengers were accommodated in 510 rooms, of which 424 were regulation, 62 were fitted with private toilet and 24 were "parlors en suite" giving sleeping room for 1,500 persons and capable of carrying a total of 6,000 passengers and 1,500 tons of cargo loaded on the main deck.[2]
Hull and engineering
The ship's dimensions as built were 500 ft (152.4 m)
Propulsion was by an inclined, three-cylinder steam engine below the main deck with only the main bearing tops, upper parts of the valves and handling levers above the main deck.[2] The engine was unique in using a Walschaert gear, normally used on locomotives, to drive a Corliss gear for the two low-pressure cylinders and the poppet type valves on the high-pressure portion.[21] The speed guarantee of 22 miles per hour (35.4 km/h; 19.1 kn) was met by the engine's 12,000 ihp (8,900 kW) at 31 revolutions per minute.[2][note 3] The high-pressure cylinder, 66 in (167.6 cm) in diameter, was centered between the two low-pressure cylinders of 96 in (243.8 cm) diameter with steam provided by six single ended and three double ended Scotch boilers forward of the engine room delivering steam at 165 psi (1.1 MPa).[2] The single ended boilers were 14 ft (4.3 m) inside diameter by 10 ft 6 in (3.2 m) length and the double ended boilers were 14 ft 2.1875 in (4.3 m) mean diameter by 20 ft 5.5 in (6.2 m) length.[2] The two 32 ft 9 in (10.0 m) diameter paddle wheels each had eleven steel buckets 14 ft 10 in (4.5 m) long by 5 ft (1.5 m) wide.[2] Due to the restricted channels at both Cleveland and Buffalo additional maneuvering capability was required and a bow rudder and steam steering engine were provided.[2]
Washed air ventilation units provided fresh air for all interior spaces with exhaust fans for removal of foul air.[2] Three steam turbines drove generator sets providing electricity for 4,500 electric lights, including the largest searchlight (32 in (81.3 cm)) on the Great Lakes, and the ship was extensively electrified for auxiliary functions.[2] Over 500 telephones were on board, with one in every stateroom, the officer's quarters and booths in passenger areas as part of a public system and a private system for use in ship operations.[2]
History
The name for the ship Seeandbee, based on the initials of the company that owned the ship, was chosen by means of a contest in which the winner received a prize of $10.00[note 4] and a free trip on the ship.[22] When completed Seeandbee left Detroit the morning of 19 June 1913 on its maiden voyage. After stopping in Cleveland at the East 9th Street pier, Seeandbee then headed to Buffalo arriving the next morning to what was called a "Royal Welcome".[23] While at Buffalo the ship was open for free tours and a reception was held for the Buffalo Chamber of Commerce by the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce who had chartered the trip.[24]
In addition to the scheduled operation between Cleveland and Buffalo the vessel made special cruises to Detroit and Chicago along with other ports on the Great Lakes.[23] In an advertisement dated 12 June 1914, the cost to travel between Cleveland to Buffalo on Seeandbee was touted to be less than a railroad ticket and that any railroad ticket for travel between the two cities would be accepted.[25] During August 1930, C & B Transit issued a $10,000[note 5] challenge to prove that Seeandbee was the "fastest on the lakes" but the challenge was never accepted by the other steamship companies.[26][27] For the 1933 Chicago World's Fair Seeandbee was scheduled to make a number of all-inclusive trips that summer.[28] Prior to the start of the 1937 sailing season Seeandbee underwent refitting. A new large ballroom was constructed on the upper deck, stateroom space was converted into parlors, and new showers, baths and beauty parlors were added to the ship.[29]
Due to heavy losses in 1938 Cleveland and Buffalo Transit was liquidated in 1939 with the vessel acquired by the Chicago-based C&B Transit Company. [23] Seeandbee was used for short excursion trips as well. A 1940 newspaper article from Buffalo, New York shows that Seeandbee was booked by the local Democratic Party office for their annual "lake cruise and party rendezvous" from 1 p.m. to midnight.[30]
In 1941, prior to American entry into World War II, the need to be able to train pilots in aircraft carrier takeoffs and landings became an area of concern. There were a limited number of aircraft carriers available and these were assigned to front line duties.
Refit
The Navy acquired Seeandbee from the C&B Transit Company on 12 March 1942 for the price of $756,500
The name Wolverine was approved on 2 August 1942, with the ship being commissioned on 12 August 1942 at Buffalo, New York.[33][34][35][7][33] The commissioning ceremony was closed to the public and was attended by only certain dignitaries, the new crew and roughly five hundred workmen who were still on board.[36] Intended to operate on Lake Michigan, IX-64 received her name because the state of Michigan is known as the Wolverine State.[7]
Assignment
Wolverine began her new assignment in January 1943 stationed at
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 and Sable enabled the pilots and LSOs to learn to handle take-offs and landings on a real flight deck.[40] Sable and Wolverine were a far cry from front-line carriers, but they accomplished the Navy's purpose: qualifying naval aviators fresh from operational flight training in carrier landings.[41]
Wolverine and Sable were not true aircraft carriers and they had certain limitations. One was that there were no elevators or hangar decks to store damaged aircraft. If all the storage spaces on the flight deck were filled with damaged aircraft, the day's operations were over and the carriers headed back to their pier in Chicago.[32] Landing aircraft on calm days became another problem for the carriers. Neither carrier was able to generate sufficient speed to meet the "wind over deck" (WOD) landing minimums for aircraft such as F6F Hellcats, F4U Corsairs, TBM Avengers and SBD Dauntlesses.[32] When there was little or no wind on Lake Michigan, operations often had to be curtailed. 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.[citation needed]
Decommissioning and disposal
Once the war was over, the need for such training ships came to an end. The Navy
Legal case
The Department of Justice brought a case regarding the sale of Seeandbee to the U.S. Government. The case involved claims that the value of the ship was knowingly inflated by $275,000[note 8] by using false statements regarding the amount of time the C&B Transit Company owned Seeandbee, false statements regarding the amount invested in the ship and submitting falsified records that inflated the earnings produced from operating Seeandbee.[43] The former president of the C&B Transit Company plead nolo contendere and was fined $5,000.[note 9] The government was able to recover the $275,000[note 8] from five former stockholders of the C&B Transit Company in addition to $235,981[note 10] in taxes that had been paid on capital gains.[31]
Awards
USS Wolverine received the following awards for her World War II service.[8]
American Campaign Medal | World War II Victory Medal
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Footnotes
- ^ a b equivalent to $14,106,953 in 2023[5]
- Gross Register Tonnageof the registering authority and time.
- ^ Inland and river vessels often used miles per hour instead of the oceanic knots.
- ^ equivalent to $316 in 2023[5]
- ^ equivalent to $182,390 in 2023[5]
- ^ DANFS has the date as 26 November 1947, but that is after the documented sale on 21 November 1947 by the Maritime Administration (MARAD). MARAD shows the date of Navy action as 14 November 1945 after which the ship was offered for sale.
- ^ equivalent to $638,450 in 2023[5]
- ^ a b equivalent to $5,128,106 in 2023[5]
- ^ equivalent to $84,621 in 2023[5]
- ^ equivalent to $3,993,793 in 2023[5]
References
- ^ a b c Maritime Administration Vessel Status Card.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad Marine Engineering: June 1913.
- ^ "SEEANDBEE; WOLVERINE, USS, 1942; 127484.127521". Great Lakes Maritime Database. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- ISBN 0-87021-773-9.
- ^ a b c d e f g 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved 29 February 2024.
- ^ "HyperWar: U.S. Navy Radio Call Sign Book (WWII) [Section 18]". www.ibiblio.org. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- ^ a b Interstate Commerce Commission 1916, p. 319.
- ^ "Seeandbee". case.edu. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- ^ "CRUISING THE GREAT LAKES IN THE 1930s ABOARD THE STEAMER SEEANDBEE". Cruising The Past. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- ^ Wallace, Irving; David Wallechinsky; Amy Wallace (6 May 1984). "Paddle-Wheel Aircraft Carriers". The Modesto Bee. Modesto, California. p. 48. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
- ^ "Fresh-Water Flattops – The U.S. Navy's Forgotten Great Lakes Aircraft Carriers". MilitaryHistoryNow.com. 29 August 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- ^ a b c Lee, Bill. "PADDLEWHEEL AIRCRAFT CARRIERS" (PDF). Newport News Shipbuilding Apprentice School Organizations. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- ^ Ellison, Garret (20 February 2015). "Secret WW2 aircraft carriers on Lake Michigan focus of history project". MLive.com. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- ^ "Carrier Qualification Training Great Lakes 1942–1945" (PDF). United States Navy.
- ^ "Heroes On Deck – Documentary on USS Sable & Wolverine". Warbirds News. 2 July 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- ^ a b c Newell & Drayer 1916, pp. 92–93.
- ^ Colton: Detroit Shipbuilding.
- ^ Green's Marine Directory of the Great Lakes 31st Edition. 1939. pp. 102, 258, 331.
- ^ Newell & Drayer 1916, p. 93.
- ^ ISBN 9781439614778.
- ^ a b c Case Western Reserve University 1998.
- ^ "Royal Welcome For Seeandbee On First Trip". The Buffalo Evening News. 20 June 1913. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- ^ "Restful Travel". Penn Yan Democrat. 12 June 1914. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- ^ a b c O'Brian, Jack (31 July 1942). "Lake Liner Takes Form As Navy Plane Carrier". Buffalo Courier Express. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- ^ "Seeandbee Challenges Any Boat On The Lakes". Buffalo Courier Express. Associated Press. 29 August 1930. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- ^ "The Great Ship Seeandbee Is Scheduled for World Fair Cruises". The Patriot and Free Press. 13 April 1933. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- ^ "Seeandbee Will Make Eight Weekly Cruises During July and August". Buffalo Courier Express. 13 June 1937. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- ^ "1,500 Expected On Democratic Cruise Monday". Buffalo Courier Express. 16 June 1940. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- ^ a b "M'Guire Fined $5000 In Sale of Seeandbee to U.S. Government". Buffalo Evening News. 8 January 1947. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- ^ a b c d e O'Malley, Dave. "USS Wolverine & USS Sable Paddle Wheel Flattops of the Great Lakes". www.vintagewings.ca. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- ^ a b "First Great Lakes Carrier, Wolverine, Is Commissioned". The Milwaukee Journal. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: United Press. 22 August 1942. p. 3. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
- ^ "First Lakes Carrier Completed". The Daily Times. Beaver and Rochester Pennsylvania. 21 August 1942. p. 6. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
- ^ "A Brief History of U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers Part IIa - The War Years (1941–1942)". www.navy.mil. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- ^ O'Brian, Jack (13 August 1942). "Plane Carrier Wolverine Taken Over by Navy Crew". Buffalo Courier Express. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- ^ "Cornbelt Fleet Ends Service". The Southeast Missourian. UPI. 17 April 1970. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
- ^ O'Brian, J. Paul (17 May 1943). "Carrier Wolverine Records 7000th Successful Landing". Buffalo Evening News. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
- ^ Fry, Steve (23 April 2004). "Out of a watery grave WWII plane restored decades after it went down". The City-Journal. Topeka, Kansas. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
- ^ "A Stranger on the Lakes". Herald-Journal. Spartanburg, South Carolina. 26 August 1942. p. 3. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
- ^ Ship at the Breakyard: [1]
- ^ "U.S. Charges $500,000 Seeandbee Fraud". Buffalo Evening News. Associated Press. 31 July 1945. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
Bibliography
- Case Western Reserve University (13 May 1998). "SEEANDBEE - The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History". Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. Case Western Reserve University. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- Colton, T (22 September 2014). "Detroit Shipbuilding, Detroit MI and Wyandotte MI". ShipbuildingHistory. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
- Interstate Commerce Commission (1916). "Appenxix, Exhibit No. 1 (Rates Via Rail-and-Lake Routes)". Interstate Commerce Commission Reports: Reports and Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission (December 1915 to January 1916). XXXVII. Washington: Government Printing Office. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
- International Marine Engineering (1913). "Side Wheel Passenger Steamer See-and-Bee". International Marine Engineering. XVIII (6). New York, New York: Aldrish Publishing Company: 252–258. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
- Maritime Administration. "Wolverine (IX-64)". Ship History Database Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- Naval History And Heritage Command. "Sable". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History And Heritage Command. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
- Naval History And Heritage Command. "Wolverine". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History And Heritage Command. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
- Newell, F. H.; Drayer, C. E. (1916). Engineering as a Career. New York: D. Van Nostrand Company. LCCN 16002426.
- Silverstone, Paul H (1965). US Warships of World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-773-9.
- Truebe, Carl E. & Wetherhorn, Aryeh (2007). "Question 33/04: Training Carriers Sable (IX-81) and Wolverine (IX-64)". Warship International. XLIV (4): 332–334. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Wilde, Douglas B. (2006). "Question 33/04: Training Carriers Sable (IX-81) and Wolverine (IX-64)". Warship International. XLIII (4): 354–360. ISSN 0043-0374.
External links
- navsource.org: USS Wolverine
- Sunken Corsair pulled from Lake Michigan http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/11/world-war-ii-fighter-plane-lake-michigan-recovery-waukegan.html