7-18-2014: Great Lakes 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!

... Among the thousands of pilots who qualified in the USS SABLE was a then 20-year old Lieutenant, Junior Grade, future- President George H.W. Bush; depicted here later in the war, flanked by his two aircraft crew members. ... President Bush recalled his initial carrier qualification training experience: "I remember those Great Lakes flights very well in the open cockpit that winter. Coldest I ever was in my life." ...
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Hey! The good Bush, I remember that guy.