USS Sable
US Navy training ship in service 1943-1945 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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USS Sable (IX-81) was a United States Navy training ship during World War II,[5] originally built as the passenger ship Greater Buffalo, a sidewheel excursion steamboat. She was purchased by the Navy in 1942 and converted to a training aircraft carrier to be used on the Great Lakes. She lacked a hangar deck, elevators, or armament and was not a true warship, but she provided advanced training of naval aviators in carrier takeoffs and landings.
USS Sable (IX-81) underway on Lake Michigan in 1944–45 | |
History | |
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United States | |
Name | Greater Buffalo |
Owner | Detroit and Cleveland Navigation Company |
Port of registry | Detroit |
Route | Buffalo to Detroit |
Builder | American Ship Building Company, Lorain, Ohio |
Cost | $3,500,000.00 |
Way number | 00786 |
Launched | 27 October 1924 |
Maiden voyage | 13 May 1925 |
Identification | |
Nickname(s) | "Majestic of the Great Lakes" |
Fate | Acquired by the United States Navy on 7 August 1942. |
United States | |
Name | USS Sable |
Namesake | Sable |
Acquired | 7 August 1942 |
Commissioned | 8 May 1943 |
Decommissioned | 7 November 1945 |
Stricken | 28 November 1945 |
Identification |
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Honors and awards |
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Fate | Sold on 7 July 1948 for scrapping. |
General characteristics | |
Tonnage | 7,739 GRT as Greater Buffalo |
Displacement | 6,584 long tons (6,690 t) (as Sable) |
Length |
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Beam | 58 ft (17.7 m) (as Greater Buffalo and Sable) |
Height | 21.3 ft (6.5 m) (as Greater Buffalo) |
Decks | 7 (as Greater Buffalo) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 18 knots (33 km/h)[4] |
Crew | 300 (as Greater Buffalo) |
Notes | 2 × 6,000 lb (2,700 kg) anchors fore and 1 × 6,000 lb (2,700 kg) anchor aft (as Greater Buffalo)[3] |
On her first day of service, 59 pilots became qualified within nine hours of operations, with each making eight takeoffs and landings. Pilot training was conducted seven days a week in all types of weather conditions.[6] George H. W. Bush, later president of the United States, was one of the aviators who trained on Sable.[5]
Sable was decommissioned on 7 November 1945. She was sold for scrapping on 7 July 1948 to the H. H. Buncher Company. She and her sister ship USS Wolverine – which together were used for the training of over 17,000 pilots, landing signal officers, and other navy personnel[7][8] – hold the distinction of being the only freshwater, coal-fired, side paddle-wheel aircraft carriers used by the United States Navy.[9][10]