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teaspoon
Fireman
Premium Member
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 Posted - 12/13/2009 : 10:16:48 PM
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All of the talk on the forum bout boats recently has gotten me thinking about a little known bit of history. As the president of the Leslie Michigan Area historical Society, my research leads me to some strange and often very interesting places. I've been doing research on the marine architect Frank E. Kirby, who is the grandson of early Leslie pioneer Silas Kirby. Two of Kirby's ships, the Seeandbee and the Greater Buffalo were Converted into training Aircraft Carriers(the U.S.S. Wolverine and the U.S.S. Sable, respectively) during world war 2. Former president George Bush Sr. Qualified in an Avenger for Carrier landings aboard the Sable. I will post pics next to allow for editing. Steve
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teaspoon
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 12/13/2009 : 10:28:11 PM
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The USS Wolverine  The USS Sable
 the grand saloon of the Seeandbee
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Chuck Doan
Fireman
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Posted - 12/16/2009 : 1:30:57 PM
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That is a heck of a pilots ready room!
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teaspoon
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 12/16/2009 : 11:19:23 PM
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Chuck, The thought of all of that wood work being torn out makes me sad. Fortunately, the Gothic room from the Former City of Detroit was saved and is in the Dossin Great Lakes Museum.The Gothic room window featuring LaSalle
 A model of the Seeandbee
 The Sable under construction
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Edited by - teaspoon on 12/16/2009 11:21:31 PM |
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railphotog
Fireman
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Posted - 12/17/2009 : 05:48:04 AM
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Where does the "sidewheel" come in? When I first read the title I thought there was going to be an aircraft carrier with side mounted paddlewheels.
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teaspoon
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 12/17/2009 : 06:50:51 AM
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Bob, They are there, you can see the circular housing in the top photo, and again in the photo of the model of the seeandbee right where seeandbee is painted on the side. The wheels were enclosed.
 In this photo you can see the circular housing
 In this photo you can see wake mid ship. Well that's all I'm going to post, this is after all a train forum. More info the Seeandbee, SS Greater Buffalo, USS Wolverine, USS Sable, and Frank E Kirby go to Wikipedia Thank you for your interest in this little known bit of history. Steve H. President, Leslie Area Historical Society
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Bbags
Administrator
Premium Member
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Posted - 12/17/2009 : 08:10:51 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by teaspoon
Bob, They are there, you can see the circular housing in the top photo, and again in the photo of the model of the seeandbee right where seeandbee is painted on the side. The wheels were enclosed.
In this photo you can see the circular housing
In this photo you can see wake mid ship. Well that's all I'm going to post, this is after all a train forum. More info the Seeandbee, SS Greater Buffalo, USS Wolverine, USS Sable, and Frank E Kirby go to Wikipedia Thank you for your interest in this little known bit of history. Steve H. President, Leslie Area Historical Society
Thanks for the great pictures and even if this is a railroad forum many people here model boats on their layout.
Gregg W has many boat models in various threads and I have a thread about building a sternwheeler in the Craftsman's Corner.
With the number of posts about aircraft in the crew Lounge I think that boats deserve equal billing, so post away.
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John Bagley
Modeling the Alaska Railroad in HO in Wildwood Georgia. |
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Philip
Fireman
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Posted - 12/17/2009 : 08:29:18 AM
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Thats a beautiful room Steve!
The more research I do on shipbuilding the more I agree with John. I just saw a sternwheeler and next to it was a narrow gauge service track....so they go hand and hand. Carfloats loaded with r/r equipment. Ferries etc. NYC had numerous floating revenues.
Its amazing how that was converted to an aircraft carrier. Kind of hard to accept as the ends look as if they overhang the hull.
Philip
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teaspoon
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 12/17/2009 : 12:08:21 PM
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Okay, I'll add more, I just didn't want to step on anyone's toes.From what I've read, there wasn't a hangar deck, and these ships were really just a mobile platform for training missions. There were no weapons either. George Bush said that he remembered how cold it was on that flight deck. This spring I'm going to get over to Detroit to see the Dossin Great Lakes Museum. I also want to see Judge Arthur Tuttle's (Leslie Native
)"Million Dollar Courtroom" at the Federal court Building. Steve
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CieloVistaRy
Fireman
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Posted - 12/17/2009 : 1:25:48 PM
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Very interesting ship. You could always say it's a "narrow" ship to make it eligible for this forum!
Arthur
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Greg Rich
Crew Chief
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Posted - 12/17/2009 : 10:12:24 PM
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Steve,
Thanks for the post! I've always had a soft spot for those lake steamers. Not sure if you're aware but Dawson's Great Lake Ship Museum on Belle Isle also boasts the largest collection of 1/8" scale Lake Boats in the world. That's kissin' cousin to HO scale.
Another source on-line is hosted by Bowling Green University. It lists the descriptions and photos of Lake boats reaching back nearly 150 years. Steamers,Ore boats, Lumber Hookers, Whalebacks, excursion ships (like those in this post), schooners, you name it and you can search for it.
http://ul.bgsu.edu/cgi-bin/xvsl2.cgi
Regards,
Greg Rich
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