NAS Great Lakes - WW II Navy Pilot Training



Interesting stuff!!

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> ...
When you get to the link, scroll down for the pictures.

http://warbirdinformationexcha...opic.php?f=3&t=48962

http://warbirdinformationexcha...opic.php?f=3&t=48962

One of my neighbors, Ed Brown (regretfully passed away a few years ago) was a Naval Aviator assigned to the USS Sable as a Pilot training officer after his return from the Pacific.

He had served with the "Cactus Air Force" as a Dauntless pilot through most of the early part of the Guadalcanal campaign.. and he had some interesting stories, though the vast majority of his sorties were maritime Reconnaissance over the "slot".

Annoying to him mostly "unarmed" (I.E. No Bomb) to stretch
his search range as much as possible... particularly annoying on one particular day when he was flying along with another SBD when the most inviting Japanese aircraft carrier came sailing out of a squall in front of him (Probably the Light carrier IJN Ryujo)... and all he had available to drop on them was a spam sandwich... SBD's from Saratoga later scored three 1000lb bomb hits on Ryujo eventually causing her loss.

He loved telling me these stories because I actually knew enough about that part of the pacific war to not require constant explanation of details that interrupted the flow of the story (knowing the critical dates and the names of most of the islands and most of the major engagements, "order of battle" details (I've got this annoying capacity for recalling arcane details))