Social History – Royal Weddings and Royal Yachts
Video – Royal Weddings and the Palace Balcony
Video – BRITANNIA – the British Royal Yacht
This magnificent ship has played host to some of the most famous people in the world. But, above all, she was home to Her Majesty The Queen and the Royal Family. Now in Edinburgh you are welcome on board to discover the heart and soul of this most special of royal residences.
Visit the BRITANNIA at the official website – click here.
SOCIAL AND LINER HISTORY: 1937 SS Columbus of the North German Lloyd Ship Line – Easter Cruise to West Indies From New York March 26, 1937. The largest and fastest German ship.
(Left:These are views from the passenger list for the Easter 1937 cruise aboard the SS Columbus. The itinerary included Port au Prince, Kingston, Havana.)
The plans for a German liner to be called “Columbus” had been made as early as 1914 when North German Lloyd had placed orders for two 34,000 ton ships to counter the impressive Hamburg American trio “Imperator”, “Vaterland” and “Bismark”. The North German twins were to be called “Columbus” and “Hindenberg”, but war would postpone their construction by over six years.
In the aftermath of the Great War, the terms dictated in the Treaty of Versailles were particularly harsh on Germany, and the Germans were ordered to complete the two as of yet unbuilt ships as war reparations. So as the remainder of the surviving German fleet was parceled out to the victorious Allies, workers at the Schichau Shipyards were busily constructing a ship that was to have been their “Columbus”. But the Allies had dictated that the liner–completed in 1922–was to go to the White Star Line, and under the British flag she was renamed “Homeric”. Fortunately for the Germans, the Allied victors decided that the second ship would remain German flagged, and finally workers stated construction on what would become the S.S. “Columbus”.
(Tea in the First Class lounge on the SS Columbus last cruise before WW 2)
The Red Cars route to downtown Los Angeles. The subway tunnel.
Picture Los Angeles today, and most people summon up images of cars and freeways. But if you talk to people of a certain age who grew up in Los Angeles, and mention the words “red cars”, you will hear about a time before the freeways, when a network of rail lines and electric streetcars connected L.A., Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. They reached their peak in popularity in the 1920s, then slowly fell victim to Angelenos’ love of their automobiles. By the time the last Red Car was retired from service in 1961, only rail hobbyists expressed much regret. But in the years since, fond memories, and perhaps freeway gridlock, have made the Red Cars more than just a forgotten bit of L.A. history. As the new Metro Green, Red, and Blue lines now follow routes often very close to those once traveled by the old Red Car lines, this seems an opportune time to stop and remember what once was the premiere means of getting around southern California.
The first streetcar system in L.A. dates back to 1874, when Judge Robert M. Widney convinced his neighbors in the vicinity of Third and Hill Streets (then considered the sticks) that they needed a convenient way to get to the business section of the city. A single-track railroad stretched for 2 1/2 miles from the Mission Plaza down Main and Spring Streets to Sixth Street. Subsequent horse-drawn streetcar systems were developed in other growing communities like Pasadena, Ontario, Santa Monica, and San Bernardino. A portion of the L.A. system along Pico Street was electrified in 1887, and expanded in 1890.
In the 1950s, you could cruise from Miami to Havana, Cuba for $42.00 per person aboard the S.S. Florida. This fare included all transportation, two nights aboard ship, a day in Havana and all meals.
YouTube video of cruise ship arriving in Havana – this was recent – but it would have been the same view in 1958 aboard the S. S. Florida. Nothing much has changed including the cars which are mainly American – vintage 1950s. [Read more...]
ELLIS ISLAND HISTORY – IMMIGRANTS TO AMERICA
The great steamship companies like White Star, Red Star, Cunard and Hamburg-America played a significant role in the history of Ellis Island and immigration in general.
The German liner Imperator carried many immigrants in steerage.
While most immigrants entered the United States through New York Harbor (the most popular destination of steamship companies), others sailed into many ports such as Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, San Francisco and Savannah, Miami, and New Orleans. The great steamship companies like White Star, Red Star, Cunard and Hamburg-America played a significant role in the history of Ellis Island and immigration in general. First and second class passengers who arrived in New York Harbor were not required to undergo the inspection process at Ellis Island. Instead, these passengers underwent a cursory inspection aboard ship; the theory being that if a person could afford to purchase a first or second class ticket, they were less likely to become a public charge in America due to medical or legal reasons. The Federal government felt that these more affluent passengers would not end up in institutions, hospitals or become a burden to the state. However, first and second class passengers were sent to Ellis Island for further inspection if they were sick or had legal problems.
Youtube video of Ellis Island immigrant arrivals…
This scenario was far different for “steerage” or third class passengers. These immigrants traveled in crowded and often unsanitary conditions near the bottom of steamships with few amenities, often spending up to two weeks seasick in their bunks during rough Atlantic Ocean crossings. Upon arrival in New York City, ships would dock at the Hudson or East River piers. First and second class passengers would disembark, pass through Customs at the piers and were free to enter the United States. The steerage and third class passengers were transported from the pier by ferry or barge to Ellis Island where everyone would undergo a medical and legal inspection.
Immigrants on a Ferry Boat Near Ellis Island early 1900s
From 1892 to 1954, over twelve million immigrants entered the United States through the portal of Ellis Island, a small island in New York Harbor. Ellis Island is located in the upper bay just off the New Jersey coast, within the shadow of the Statue of Liberty. Through the years, this gateway to the new world was enlarged from its original 3.3 acres to 27.5 acres mostly by landfill obtained from ship ballast and possibly excess earth from the construction of the New York City subway system.
Italian Mother and her Children arriving at Ellis Island about 1910
Before being designated as the site of the first Federal immigration station by President Benjamin Harrison in 1890, Ellis Island had a varied history. The local Indian tribes had called it “Kioshk” or Gull Island. Due to its rich and abundant oyster beds and plentiful and profitable shad runs, it was known as Oyster Island for many generations during the Dutch and English colonial periods. By the time Samuel Ellis became the island’s private owner in the 1770′s, the island had been called Kioshk, Oyster, Dyre, Bucking and Anderson’s Island. In this way, Ellis Island developed from a sandy island that barely rose above the high tide mark, into a hanging site for pirates, a harbor fort, ammunition and ordinance depot named Fort Gibson, and finally into an immigration station.
From 1794 to 1890 (pre-immigration station period), Ellis Island played a mostly uneventful but still important military role in United States history. When the British occupied New York City during the duration of the Revolutionary War, its large and powerful naval fleet was able to sail unimpeded directly into New York Harbor. Therefore, it was deemed critical by the United States Government that a series of coastal fortifications in New York Harbor be constructed just prior to the War of 1812. After much legal haggling over ownership of the island, the Federal government purchased Ellis Island from New York State in 1808. Ellis Island was approved as a site for fortifications and on it was constructed a parapet for three tiers of circular guns, making the island part of the new harbor defense system that included Castle Clinton at the Battery, Castle Williams on Governor’s Island, Fort Wood on Bedloe’s Island and two earthworks forts at the entrance to New York Harbor at the Verrazano Narrows. The fort at Ellis Island was named Fort Gibson in honor of a brave officer killed during the War of 1812.
The Registry Room in the main building of Ellis Island circa 1905. Immigrants are grouped and tagged awaiting questioning.
Prior to 1890, the individual states (rather than the Federal government) regulated immigration into the United States. Castle Garden in the Battery (originally known as Castle Clinton) served as the New York State immigration station from 1855 to 1890 and approximately eight million immigrants, mostly from Northern and Western Europe, passed through its doors. These early immigrants came from nations such as England, Ireland, Germany and the Scandinavian countries and constituted the first large wave of immigrants that settled and populated the United States. Throughout the 1800′s and intensifying in the latter half of the 19th century, ensuing political instability, restrictive religious laws and deteriorating economic conditions in Europe began to fuel the largest mass human migration in the history of the world. It soon became apparent that Castle Garden was ill-equipped and unprepared to handle the growing numbers of immigrants arriving yearly. Unfortunately compounding the problems of the small facility were the corruption and incompetence found to be commonplace at Castle Garden.
The Federal government intervened and constructed a new Federally-operated immigration station on Ellis Island. While the new immigration station on Ellis Island was under construction, the Barge Office at the Battery was used for the processing of immigrants. The new structure on Ellis Island, built of “Georgia pine” opened on January 1, 1892; Annie Moore, a 15 year-old Irish girl, accompanied by her two brothers entered history and a new country as she was the very first immigrant to be processed at Ellis Island on January 2. Over the next 62 years, more than 12 million were to follow through this port of entry.
Immigrants having just arrived in New York. What many Americans derogatorily called people “just off the boat” or the large liners from Europe. Here the immigrants are waiting for the Ellis Island Ferry. The boats would take the immigrants from the steamship piers to Ellis Island. They were owned by the steamship companies.
While there were many reasons to emigrate to America, no reason could be found for what would occur only five years after the Ellis Island Immigration Station opened. During the evening of June 14, 1897, a fire on Ellis Island, burned the immigration station completely to the ground. Although no lives were lost, many years of Federal and State immigration records dating back to 1855 burned along with the pine buildings that failed to protect them. The United States Treasury quickly ordered the immigration facility be replaced under one very important condition. All future structures built on Ellis Island had to be fireproof. On December 17, 1900, the new Main Building was opened and 2,251 immigrants were received that day.
While most immigrants entered the United States through New York Harbor (the most popular destination of steamship companies), others sailed into many ports such as Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, San Francisco and Savannah, Miami, and New Orleans. The great steamship companies like White Star, Red Star, Cunard and Hamburg-America played a significant role in the history of Ellis Island and immigration in general. First and second class passengers who arrived in New York Harbor were not required to undergo the inspection process at Ellis Island. Instead, these passengers underwent a cursory inspection aboard ship; the theory being that if a person could afford to purchase a first or second class ticket, they were less likely to become a public charge in America due to medical or legal reasons. The Federal government felt that these more affluent passengers would not end up in institutions, hospitals or become a burden to the state. However, first and second class passengers were sent to Ellis Island for further inspection if they were sick or had legal problems.
Immigrants aboard the GRAF WALDERSEE await mid-day meal – 1899.
The Hamburg-America Line’s GRAF WALDERSEE. The ship would have first, second and third or “steerage” class. The ship was typical of many smaller liners used for immigrant traffic. Steerage was very uncomfortable and a money maker for the steamship lines. Passengers were crowded and conditions very uncomfortable. Up top – first and second class passengers had very plus accommodations and excellent meals.
This scenario was far different for “steerage” or third class passengers. These immigrants traveled in crowded and often unsanitary conditions near the bottom of steamships with few amenities, often spending up to two weeks seasick in their bunks during rough Atlantic Ocean crossings. Upon arrival in New York City, ships would dock at the Hudson or East River piers. First and second class passengers would disembark, pass through Customs at the piers and were free to enter the United States. The steerage and third class passengers were transported from the pier by ferry or barge to Ellis Island where everyone would undergo a medical and legal inspection.
If the immigrant’s papers were in order and they were in reasonably good health, the Ellis Island inspection process would last approximately three to five hours. The inspections took place in the Registry Room (or Great Hall), where doctors would briefly scan every immigrant for obvious physical ailments. Doctors at Ellis Island soon became very adept at conducting these “six second physicals.” By 1916, it was said that a doctor could identify numerous medical conditions (ranging from anemia to goiters to varicose veins) just by glancing at an immigrant. The ship’s manifest log (that had been filled out back at the port of embarkation) contained the immigrant’s name and his/her answers to twenty-nine questions. This document was used by the legal inspectors at Ellis Island to cross examine the immigrant during the legal (or primary) inspection. The two agencies responsible for processing immigrants at Ellis Island were the United States Public Health Service and the Bureau of Immigration (later known as the Immigration and Naturalization Service – INS). On March 1, 2003, the Immigration and Naturalization Service was re-structured and included into 3 separate bureaus as part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Social History – Wonderful video celebrating Tucker’s 100 Birthday on Youtube.
Orrin Tucker dies at 100; bandleader owned L.A.’s Stardust Ballroom; he was one of the last big-band dance orchestra leaders.
The orchestra’s 1939 rendition of ‘Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!’ with Bonnie Baker on vocals was a national hit. In 1975 he turned a Sunset Boulevard skating rink into the Stardust, which closed in 1982.
Orrin Tucker, a bandleader whose orchestra achieved national prominence with a 1939 recording of “Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!” and who decades later owned a big-band venue on Sunset Boulevard, has died. He was 100.
Orrin’s life is covered in this excellent video.
Tucker, who was a longtime resident of South Pasadena, died April 9 in the San Gabriel Valley, said his daughter, Nora Compere.
After forming the band in 1933, Tucker was its primary vocalist until jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong suggested that a petite singer named Evelyn Nelson would be a good fit for the group, according to biographical references.
When Tucker met her in 1938, he said, “Would you mind if I change your name to the ‘shy voice of Wee Bonnie Baker’? She said that would be fine,” Tucker later recalled.
Rummaging through old sheet music, he found a copy of “Oh Johnny,” a hit song from 1917, and decided to record it with Baker.
“So melting and cajoling were diminutive Bonnie’s ‘Oh’s’ ” that the record “was soon jerking juke-box nickels faster than the fading ‘Beer Barrel Polka,’ ” Time magazine said in early 1940.
World War II interrupted Tucker’s big band career, and he served as a Navy pilot instructor from 1942 to 1945. He was stationed at Pearl Harbor.
With a new band after the war, he played major U.S. hotels and clubs.
(Bonnie Baker and Orrin Tucker; Tucker’s orchestra at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles)
The band’s theme song was a Tucker favorite: “Drifting and Dreaming.”
Tucker would end up making more than 70 records, including six that sold more than a million copies apiece, according to the All Music online database.
After playing himself in the 1975 TV movie “Queen of the Stardust Ballroom,” Tucker leased a skating rink that same year on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood and turned it into the Stardust Ballroom.
His orchestra was the star attraction, but economics made him realize that ballroom dancing had “a dwindling popularity,” he told The Times in 1981.
On weekends, patrons would swing and samba, but many nights Tucker would rent out the space for roller skating or other functions such as women’s boxing.
In 1982, he closed the ballroom and moved to Palm Springs, where he sold real estate. He performed into the 1990s and last appeared on a cruise ship.
He was born Robert Orrin Tucker on Feb. 17, 1911, in St. Louis, and grew up in Wheaton, Ill.
As a boy, he became fascinated by a saxophone in a Sears Roebuck catalog and taught himself to play one.
A pre-med student, he attended Northwestern University and North Central College in Illinois. While in college, Tucker formed his first band and soon turned his hobby into a career.
“He had good genes and a good outlook on life,” said his daughter, who joked that ice cream may have been his secret to longevity. He ate it every day and preferred vanilla with chocolate syrup.
Besides his daughter, Nora, of South Pasadena, Tucker is survived by Aline Cameron Tucker, whom he married in 1975, and a grandson.
Hard Rock Cafe – 1970s…
When you see the Hard Rock T-Shirt or hear about how trendy the Hard Rock Cafe is… remember there was a Hard Rock Cafe at 5th and Wall Street on Skid-row in downtown Los Angeles. This place was about the hardest hard drinking place in the USA.
Mrs. Benjamin Mozee – Missing Passenger On Cruise Ship – SS Seeandbee July 29, 1940…
Cruise ships are not always the paradise at sea…
Mrs. Frank R. Elliott the sister-in-law of Mrs. Benjamin Mozee said she saw Mrs. Mozee off when she boarded the steamship on the Great Lakes cruise. She believes that Mrs Mozee was robbed, murdered and dumped overboard. The facts support that theory.
Elliott says that when Mozee embarked on the Lake Erie cruise from Cleveland, Ohio to Buffalo, New York, she had a large amount of cash with her and expensive jewelry including three diamond rings.
J. Pierpont Morgan Jr. could never have imagined his yacht Corsair IV being converted into a deluxe cruise ship whose short career would end in tragedy but it happened on a sailing from California to Acapulco in 1949.
J.P. Morgan Jr. and his legendary business tycoon father, J. Pierpont Morgan, made cruise history, owning four magnificent yachts christened Corsair, and built three of them.
Each yacht was bigger, faster, and more comfortable than the preceding one.
The Morgan Corsair created major media attention for the times resulting in a legendary quote by the senior Morgan when he was asked how much it cost to operate a boat that size. His quick response: “Sir, if you have to ask that question, you can’t afford it.”
Corsair IV was constructed in Maine at the beginning of the Great Depression for $2.5 million (or about $60 million in today’s currency). Measuring 2,142 gross tons, with a registered length of 300 feet and overall length of 343 feet, the Corsair IV was the largest yacht ever built in the U.S. Designed in the traditional piratical look of Morgan yachts, Corsair IV was long, dark, heavy underneath – paler and suaver in the superstructure.
The Corsair launching in 1930.
When it was ready for launching in 1930, Morgan brought three private railway cars of family and friends up to the Maine shipyards for the occasion.
Morgan used her for ten years, mostly on the East Coast, in the West Indies and for trans-Atlantic record-breaking crossings. After an eventful career with Morgan, the Corsair IV was turned over to British Admiralty in 1940.
Following World War II, rich Americans had money to spend on cruises but choices were limited. Half the commercial passenger vessels had been sunk and the surviving liners demanded extensive refurbishing. It would be several years before many refurbished ships would be back in service or any new ships built.
This was especially true in California and on the West Coast. American Presidents Lines took three years to re-establish liner service to the Orient and it wasn’t until 1948 when Matson Line’s famous Lurline sailed again to Hawaii.
The magnificent pre-war Canadian Pacific and Japanese liners that once plied the Pacific had been brutally sunk in seagoing battles.
Life Magazine featured the new Corsair. It was probably the most deluxe cruise ship operating after World War II.
Realizing there was an untapped post-War luxury cruise market, the Skinner and Eddy Corporation, owners of the Alaska Steamship Company, created Pacific Cruise Lines in 1946.
The newly formed subsidiary immediately went looking for a ship and was lucky enough to quickly spot its prize, Corsair IV.
The former Morgan yacht was bought from undisclosed buyers and placed under Panamanian registry.
The Corsair (the IV was dropped) was taken to Todd Shipyards in New York for repair and overhaul, and then sailed to the Victoria Machinery Depot in Victoria, Canada, for conversion to a luxury cruise vessel.
The ultra-deluxe public rooms and staterooms aboard the Corsair.
In charge of her interior was the firm of William F. Schorn Associates of New York. Schorn was also responsible for giving the pre-war Moore-McCormick Liners cruising to South America from New York – Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay –a much more contemporary look. He provided the same meticulous detail to designing the modern accommodations for the new elegant Corsair. This was not just a paint job but also a total conversion for the former Morgan yacht to create elegant surroundings for the line’s future passengers.
The goal of Pacific Cruise Lines was to offer to the traveling public the world’s most luxurious cruise ship. The many letters received from the cruise passengers during the first year of service attested to that accomplishment.
The Pacific Cruise Line’s S.S. Corsair, ready to sail from Long Beach, California in 1948.
Accommodating only 82 passengers, all rooms were much larger and more commodious than as expected on shipboard at that time. No expense was spared in furnishing decorating each room with the very finest of materials and workmanship available. There were no berths on the Corsair and all staterooms featured beds. Each room had its own private bath.
There were a total of 42 rooms on the ship and the steward’s department personnel alone numbered more than forty. Each was responsible for the sole purpose of catering to the slightest desire of the carriage trade passengers. All public rooms, including the main lounge, forward observation lounge, cocktail lounge, etc., were completely carpeted and air-conditioned. This was also true of all bedrooms, sitting rooms and suites. Top European chiefs were hired to create haute cuisine. A total of 76 crewmembers and officers were aboard the new cruise ship, making the passenger to crew ratio almost one to one, equaling or surpassing the most high end cruise ships operating today.
The new Corsair made her debut on September 29, 1947 offering two-week cruises from Long Beach, California, to Acapulco, Mexico. The standard price per person rate averaged $600. Hardly a bargain since the ship’s cruise fare equaled more than a quarter of the 1947 typical U.S. family income.
The new cruise line placed attractive full-page ads for cruising on the new stylish first class Corsair in Holiday magazine. Demand for passage was heavy and the wait lists lengthy. During the summers of 1948, the Corsair was switched to Alaska. Sailing out of Vancouver, British Columbia, she provided the first deluxe two-week cruises ever offered to the Inside Passage. Another first for the Corsair Alaska cruises was a special chartered train transporting passengers from Whittier to famed McKinley National Park.
A series of cruises to Mexico, Havana via the Panama Canal and the Gulf of California were scheduled and completed in the spring of 1949. The cruise ship returned to Alaska for summer sailings and was to be followed by a season of cruises to Mexico from Long Beach beginning in October. Then tragedy struck on November 12, 1949.
The Corsair, during one of her autumn Mexican Riviera cruises, struck a rock and beached at Acapulco. Her crew and 55 passengers were put ashore in lifeboats.
There was no loss of life. Examined by her owners, the former Morgan yacht was determined to be a total constructive loss, and abandoned to Davy Jones’ locker.
Even during this age of mega-liners, no other ships will ever equal the elegance, exclusivity and style of the former Morgan yacht.
The Corsair’s legacy lives on only for divers willing to explore the remains of the vessel deep in the warm seas off Acapulco.
YOUTUBE VIDEO – EXCELLENT GREAT LAKES FOOTAGE – MERIT CLUB CRUISE ON BOARD S.S. SEEANDBEE, SEPTEMBER 1937
SS Seeandbee (1913-1947) Built in 1913 by the American Shipbuilding Company, Wyandotte, MI as SS Seeandbee for the U.S.-based Cleveland and Buffalo (hence, the name See and Bee) Transit Company as a side-wheel coal-burning excursion steamer destined for their Great Lakes service.
The ship, made out of all-steel, 6,381 grt, with a passenger capacity of 1,500 on four decks, was the largest and most costly inland steamer on the Great Lakes.
One of her trademark features was an elegant ballroom.
On her maiden voyage, she carried members of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce to Buffalo, NY. Regular trips began in 1913 from the East 9th Street Pier operating on a Cleveland to Buffalo route with special cruises to additional ports such as Detroit, MI and Chicago, IL.
The S.S. Seeandbee docked in Buffalo, ca. 1930. Cleveland Press Collection, CSU Archives
The Cleveland & Buffalo Transit Co. (C&B), a popular steamship line and later a trucking firm, was established by Morris A. Bradley in 1885 and incorporated in 1892. Passenger and freight service was initiated between Cleveland and Buffalo on the “State of Ohio” and the “State of New York,” leaving Cleveland from the foot of St. Clair Ave, and in 1896, the “City of Buffalo” was added. The “City of Erie” replaced the “State of Ohio” in 1898, providing a night-time service from Cleveland to Toledo. In 1914, Cedar Point, Ohio and Put-in-Bay, Ohio were added to the C&B route. At the time the SS Seeandbee joined the fleet, C&B and the Detroit & Cleveland (D&C) Line obtained a 50-year lease from Cleveland for property at the foot of 9th Street for $55,000. There, the two companies built the E. 9th Street Pier and a new lake terminal dedicated in 1915. In exchange, the city built a bridge over the E. 9th Street railroad tracks, paved the E. 9th Street approach, and provided a street railway to the pier.
Seeandbee was the pride of the C&B Transit Company and a consistent moneymaker for them on her summer cruises. However, the destruction of the “City of Buffalo” by fire in 1938, along with the effects of the Great Depression and increasing competition from trucks and railroads caused heavy losses and ultimately resulted in the bankruptcy and liquidation of the Cleveland and Buffalo Transit Company in 1939. That year, the SS Seeandbee was sold to the Chicago-based C&B Transit Company who operated her on a regular schedule through 1941.
The entry of the United States into World War II saw a massive increase in the demand for carrier-qualified pilots. However, it was not always possible to remove a combat carrier from the theater of war to use as a training ship, although some escort carriers occasionally served in this capacity. A unique solution was found to this problem.
On 12 March 1942, the SS Seeandbee, complete with 470 staterooms, 24 parlors, loads of mahogany trim and two side paddle wheels that made her look more like a Mississippi riverboat then a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, was acquired by the U.S. Navy for $756,000. She was initially designated as an unclassified miscellaneous auxiliary. The ship was stripped of all her plush amenities at the American Shipbuilding Company in Cleveland, Ohio She was then towed to Buffalo, NY were on 6 May 1942 1,200 men worked around the clock to transform her into a training aircraft carrier. Her upper work was removed and replaced by a 550-foot-long wooden flight deck that extended well past her bow and stern and a small island was affixed to her starboard side. There was no need for a hangar since trainee pilots landed and, if successful, immediately took off again. Upon completion of the refit, she was commissioned on 2 August 1942 as the USS Wolverine, IX-64, in Buffalo, NY with Commander George R. Fairlamb as her CO. The name “Wolverine” was chosen to honor the state of Michigan, the Wolverine state. Another paddle wheeler, the Greater Buffalo, was also converted and assumed the name of USS Sable, IX-81.
Once in service, their training operations were conducted on Lake Michigan. As the only inland aircraft carriers ever commissioned by the U.S. Navy, they became part of a fleet, commonly known as the “Corn Belt Fleet”. Since access to the Great Lakes was limited by the Saint Lawrence River, neither carrier mounted any weapons since they operated beyond the reach of potential German or Japanese submarines. The hybrids had two unique features. First, they were the only U.S. Navy carriers to use coal for fuel. Second, their primary, and only, propulsion was provided by side paddle wheels, making them the only paddlewheel carriers in history.
Wolverine and Sable, based at Chicago, IL, trained pilots and flight deck personnel, specifically Landing Signal Officers or LSO’s, seven days a week, year round (weather permitting), throughout the war. Together they logged over 135,000 landings and qualified 17,820 Navy and Marine Corps aviators, among them a young pilot by the name of George Herbert Walker Bush who would later become the 41st President of the United States. Wolverine and Sable were a far cry from the Navy’s front-line carriers, but they were found suitable for accomplishing the Navy’s purpose of qualifying naval aviators, fresh out of operational flight training, in carrier landings. The two carriers had certain limitations such as having no elevators or a hangar deck. When crashes used up the allotted spots on the flight deck for parking dud aircraft, the day’s operation would be over and the carriers headed back to the Navy Pier in Chicago.
Once the war was over, USS Wolverine was decommissioned on 7 November 1945, three months after VJ-Day, and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 28 November 1945. On 26 November 1947, she was transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal and in December 1947 she was sold for scrap and as part of her final disposition broken up at Cleveland, Ohio.
