An aircraft carrier out of a paddle-wheeler - who'd have thought it!? Which one of these ship refits was your favourite? For me it has got to be SS Seeandbee. Kudos and big thanks to Alexander Kostov of ScoreTwins for the fancy new intro music! Check out his work at; www.scoretwins.com/ ~Mike
The Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, MI has actually pulled up and restored a number of the training aircraft that ended up at the bottom of Lake Michigan as a result of accidents. They did a Dauntless a while back, and (iirc) are currently restoring a Wildcat. I can't confirm which carrier they were based off of, but the museum also had a LOVELY model of the Wolverine in 1/72. Definitely worth a look if you're in the area.
I remember reading about these paddlewheel carriers. At first, the concept looked ridiculous but when you consider what they were built for, when they were built and what was achieved they actually made a lot of sense.
i like japanese carriers like ijn akagi and kaga because the way they were built they were tall and they had these huge support pillars on the bow and stern they were gonna be yamato class battle ships but were changed last minute but they shock me because they way they were built
@@Hmshoodfanwell that is just incorrect. Akagi was laid down as an Amagi-class Battlecruiser and Kaga was laid down as a Tosa-class Battleship, both being 1920s designs. Originally Kaga was to be scrapped with Amagi being the 2nd, but after Amagi was severely damaged in an earthquake she was scrapped and Kaga was converted instead. This actually caused some minor problems as Kaga was much slower than almost all other fleet carriers. The carrier that was a converted Yamato-class Battleship was the Shinano.
As a born and raised Michigan native, I love the Great Lakes content! For some reason I get the image stuck in my head that Great Lakes ships were primarily for cargo. Thanks for shedding light on the passenger & wartime ships!
hello . i'm a "yooper" and had a gloriuos 91 day sailing career aboard the M.V. BURNS HARBOR. what a fantastic summer that was...you should try it learn how to bake/make deserts and apply for cooks assistant. great money and great memories..................no previous expiernce needed
Being from Michigan I always like the Great Lakes content. My favorite lake conversion is the Lee Tregurtha / USS Chiwawa. The Tregurtha was converted from a fleet oiler to a bulk carrier. She still sails the Great Lakes displaying the 6 battle stars she earned during WWII.
@@PereMarquette1223 And don't forget the former Victory ship that became the Cliffs Victory - the only Great Lakes ore carrier ever built with with 2 separate holds.
The S.S. Suevic incident is one of my favorites in all of nautical history, as it shows the lengths White Star Line would go to save their vessels. I also use it as a way to disprove the Olympic/Titanic switch theory, because if White Star was willing to blow the bow off an older Australian cargo vessel to save it, They’d patch some holes in the stern of their gleaming new transatlantic flagship. Great video as always, Mike!
@@KPW2137 Yet people still believe it. Somehow being able to switch all the fine furnishes, and sticking an entire new room, Not to mention, entire suites, into a ship within what, weeks? It isn't possible. Of course majority of these people do not know the differences between Titanic and Olympics' layouts. They just go "Oh two ships that look similar, One happened to have it's hole patched up! Conspiricccyyy..."
Yep, and it's even dumber than just that because all the rationale behind the swapping makes no sense. Not to mention that it would be pretty much impossible to cover up. Not with all the people that would have to get involved in. @@zombiedoggie2732
More to the point, how did White Star manage to buy the silence of two ships' companies of 2000 people, a whole shipyard and the entire population of Southampton while they pulled this stunt off? It's amazing what tripe some people will believe.@@zombiedoggie2732
HMS Furious sister ship to Courageous had a bizarre original design of 2 18 inch guns, she became the most heavily armed aircraft carrier in the world as during the experimental conversion they kept the aft 18 inch gun.
@@hudsonball4702 Incorrect. The Courageous-class battlecruiser mounted two twin 381 mm( 15") guns in an A-X configuration. Furious, a modification of the Courageous-class, instead mounted two single 457 mm (18") guns. As completed, she kept the after 18" gun, but the fore gun was replaced with a flying-off deck. This indeed makes her the most heavily armed aircraft carrier ever built.
Furious is so wild, because she was converted in phases, initially at one point having a flying-off deck up front, a landing deck in the back, but her original superstructure amidships with ramps for moving planes around outboard of it (plus actually setting to sea with the 18" gun as mentioned).
Interesting about the bow removal. Many warships lost their bows in action, and there are hilarious stories of ships steaming backwards across the Pacific, or with temporary bows made from coconut logs!
Another ship with that title is USS Pitssburgh who lost her bow after a typhoon. It was later recovered by a tugboat and nicknamed McKeesport after a suburbs in Pittsburgh
The crashes while training on Sable and Wolverine have provided a great number of raised and restored warbirds for us to enjoy. The ice cold fresh water is less corrosive.
The biggest thing that the Seeandbee had going for it was that it was laid up and available. And by the end of the war, she and her sister were just plain worn out. They were already old when they were converted, and the war basically finished wearing them out.
YES! Finally, someone is talking about the paddle wheel carriers. I love it. Interestingly, the paddle wheel riverboat Delta Queen was also used in WWII and transported wounded crew from the navy to hospital areas on the west coast.
I had just learned about the Wolverine and the Sable from a war bird channel. Thanks for the more in-depth dive focusing on the ship more than the planes.
Were there any fatalities aboard these ships during flight operations that could be traced to the shortcomings in the modifications? Several years ago someone made a model of one of these carriers, forgot what scale it was; maybe 1/72. It was in Fine Scale Modeler magazine.
@@mh53jnot necessarily due to the ships themselves but there were a few trainees killed. fortunately less than a dozen of the several thousand pilots to come through but some of the trainee pilots who were involved in mishaps in training were killed. Most if not all of them drowning when the planes went off the end of the flight deck or over the side on landing.
USS Wolverine and USS Sable were hugely underrated. Yes, they were not the mighty fleet carriers with a kill counts to brag but those carriers won’t have a fine pilots and aces without these two.
Holy crap it made me SO unbelievably happy to see Zubian in this video, I keep forgetting her name but when you mentioned another Frankenship I knew _exactly_ who it was!
The Italian dreadnought modernization in the 30s and the Ocean liner SS Roma being turned into the Italian Aircraft carrier Aquila would be a good addition to the video
I just love the USS See and Bee. A converted paddle steamer was something unexpected to hear, but that's just what makes her unique. Even whilst she never served in active combat, Wolverine and her shipmate arguably served the more important role of training the air men responsible for delivering some of the most crucial and decisive victories for the US in the Pacific.
Another stitched together ship is USS Wisconsin (BB-64). In 1956 in heavy fog, she ran into USS Eaton. The then languishing partially built USS Kentucky (a 5th Iowa class battleship) had her bow cut off and grafted onto USS Wisconsin bringing Wisconsin back to full functionality.
Unofficially this gave Wisconsin an affectionate nickname similar in origin to the Zubian. Since Kentucky’s state abbreviation is KY, the ship with the grafted bow was known to her crews as the Whisky.
This video is fascinating! I enjoyed your coverage of the old Seeandbee. Several of my relatives traveled on her, and the stories of her relative opulence and good times had aboard her were handed down in my family :) This video demonstrates that ingenuity comes in many forms. Great job!
Mike, When my Father (born 1926) was a boy, they used to travel from Buffalo, NY to Ohio to visit his mother's family and frequently the first leg of the trip was on SEEANDBEE. Years later, we be came acquainted with a friend of his cousin here in Buffalo that worked on building the carriers. One of the pilots that qualified on SABLE was George Herbert Walker Bush, later President of the United States.
A ship to look into is the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship RFA Argus. An over 40yr old converted container ship with war honours still in active service today as a hospital, aviation training, lateral strike ship.
I just learned about the USS Wolverine last week from the AirZoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan. They even have some aircraft that served aboard her as trainers on display. Very interesting,
A great show today Mike! And thanks for bringing us inside SS Seeandbee, I've known about USS Wolverine for years but always wondered what it looked like as a Great Lakes steamer. It looked pretty darn good! Imagine a lake cruise on something like her today!
You mentioned the difficulty in joining the HMS Nubian and HMS Zulu was they were of different beams. That sounded odd as they were both of the Tribal class. Did some research and found out the Tribal class was a set of specs and each shipyard was free to design them differently. This made each of the 12 built unique.
Confusion is an understatement for the Germans at Zubian's appearance, I imagine. The hell the intelligence service got for missing an entire ship's production is pretty funny to imagine.
5:46, A similar procedure was done on the MV Nyon after she ran aground on the rocks at St. Abbs Head, Scotland in 1958. After being fitted with her new bow in 1959, the Nyon would serve for 3 more years before colliding with another cargo ship named Jalazad under foggy conditions and meeting her demise
Another ship you may want to consider for being made over is SS Governor Cobb. This ship has the double distinction of being not only the first American-built ship to be powered by steam turbines, but also, late in her career, of becoming the world's first helicopter carrier. My Grandfather was First Mate when it was taken to Philadelphia. And was aboard when the navy inspected it.
I actually found out about the Seeandbee when reading the "Nickel Plate Story" (A book about the New York Chicago & St.Louis railroad) and instantly fell in love with her quirky design. You have no idea how surprised I was when i found out she was converted to an aircraft carrier. A strange one at that too.
From a Light Cruiser to a Carrier... Would love to see you cover the USS Independence class of carriers... Great and very informative video... keep up the awesome work...
You should have mentioned the SS Stubby, the front and rear sections of the first 1000 ft ore carrier on the Great Lakes. The Stubby was built on the East Coast and sailled through the Wellington Canal to Erie Pennsylvania where it was cut in half and welded to the midsection that was built on the Great Lakes, and became the Stuart J. Cort. You do a great job with your channel.
The SS Suevic has got to be my favorite funny ocean liner stories. despite initial seriousness, and the straining efforts of all involved, it is just gold.
The importance of the role USS Wolverine (and Sable) played in helping the USN train pilots is definitely understated. Being able to equip the Essex-Swarm with well trained pilots was a huge advantage.
The Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan has been fishing out and restoring training planes that didn't stick the landings while Sable and Wolverine were in use. They have interactive exhibits for people to check out. It is a pity neither ship was kept as a museum, but I suppose at the time no one ever thought there would be a market for such things.
At 1:33 you can see Seeandbee performing what on the Great Lakes is called the "Captain's Salute" (one long and two short blasts on the whistle or horn). The Captain's Salute is a familiar sound to residents of Duluth, Minnesota, where it's the traditional salute exchanged between ships incoming or outgoing and the Aerial Lift Bridge's operation cab. The one exception is SS Arthur M. Anderson, which uses a longer salute (two long and two short) on occasions where she is entering the harbor on November 10th, marking the anniversary of the wreck of SS Edmund Fitzgerald.
Your Buster Keaton cameos are absolutely incredible. Lol Love the Great Lakes content, we who are surrounded be these incredible bodies of water, salute you!
Great video, as always! BTW, amongst the many ships that were converted into aircraft carrier, there is the strange case of Ise and Hyūga, two japanese battleships that were only half turned into aircraft carrier, staying half battleship on the forward part...
As a Briton, I'm grateful for Mike's insightful presentation that highlights the nation's shipbuilding legacy. It's a poignant reminder of our once-great industry and the engineering giants it produced. While it's sad to see its demise, especially in my region of Scotland, it astounds me that we once had people with the brains to fashion two ships together, compared to now, when Scotland can't even produce a single ferry without it ending in shambles. Your dedication ensures these stories live on, inspiring many, myself included. Thank you, Mike, for preserving our heritage.
A lot of the early carriers were indeed conversions, many come to mind - Langley (CV-1), Lexington and Saratoga (CV-2 and 3), courageous and glorious as mentioned, kaga and akagi for the japanese and so on...
My mother took a trip on SS Seeandbee, it was a classy boat. Wolverine and Sable probably saved many aviators' lives by providing carrier training in a controlled environment.
..I knew about the aircraft carriers in our lake here in Chicago, but not of the other modifications here, great job! I'm always learning something new here!
!! Wolverine mention !! The aircraft museum at Willow Run has a really cool exhibit about WW2 training on the Great Lakes, centered around a mostly intact crashed SBD Dauntless from 1943, recovered in 1996. It's definitely worth a visit if you're in the Detroit area.
Ooh, new intro! I've heard about the Zubian before, it's always been a very funny story to me! But I hadn't heard of the USS Wolverine! As someone who digs paddle ships, that's probably my favorite!
The story of the Suevic is astonishing. The speed with which they were able to restore the vessel, in 1907, without benefit of most of the powered manufacturing machinery of today (and without computers to do the design!) is hard to grasp. Great video, as usual!
You’ll LOVE the story of USS Pittsburgh (CA-72). After it’s bow broke off in a typhoon, it went to Guam for temporary repairs before proceeding to Puget Sound in Washington. Thing is it’s bow was found bobbing around upside down where it was towed to Guam, where it stayed. As measured from stem to stern, one source cites 5,656 miles long. 🤣
I love the Cornbelt Fleet carriers. First heard of them in the mid-2000s when brainstorming a steampunk setting with some online friends, and someone brought them up.
This may be one of the most interesting and fascinating episodes on your channel. Your photo documentation is truly remarkable. Thanks so much for this brilliant vblog.
I learned about the wolverine on a visit to chicago, it's one of those things your rarely here about but when you do, it makes so much sense. the great lakes are in land seas and made it possible to train pilots in perfect safety.
I had no idea about the paddlewheel aircraft carriers. But I can see how it would make sense. Very smart of the Navy at the time, and a fitting end to an intriguing, but amazing ship.
SS Seeandbee was an old ship. She got a new lease on life as USS Wolverine. USS Wolverine and USS Sable were, I'll argue, almost critical to teaching our carrier Aviators how to land, thus enhancing our odds in the PTO.
This got me looking up the Suevic on Wikipedia - which includes the fact that the bow was removed with dynamite charges, because they didn't have ocyacetylene cutting torches in 1907. Which makes it even more impressive! Thanks for the insight!
Hi Mike! What a fascinating episode! Maybe you should call these makeover episodes Pimp My Ship! Seriously, though, the paddlewheel aircraft carriers and the Suevic story were mind-blowing! Thanks for sharing their stories!
I also liked the USS SEE ANDBEE . when you said side steam paddle boat my first thought ( jokingly ) was" I wonder if Mark Twain was part of the crew ? " . Those were some very interesting stories and I loved your term " Frankenship " . Keep up the great work and much respect from Dundalk , Maryland 👍👍
Out of the weirdest ship conversion list in the video, I don't think nothing tops this ship conversion I know of. How about the Ostpreussen? A freighter made from *two U-Boats?*
The Suevic made me think of a person getting a leg or arm amputated and having a prosthetic attached. That made me lol. Excellent video as always, Mike!
@@OceanlinerDesigns you know that last bit is not true lol. But yeah I think I’m satisfied enough with one or two videos a week. As long as I get constant new content from you and you don’t push yourself to work beyond your limit ^-^
Ik it’s not a recent video. But I’ve been watching a couple videos. You earned a subscriber out of me I love the feeling while watching your videos. It’s just calm and the classical in the back is perfect
An excellent video as always, although I would definitely suggest talking about the IJN Shinano's curious development history and conversion partway through in a future video in this series.
An aircraft carrier out of a paddle-wheeler - who'd have thought it!? Which one of these ship refits was your favourite? For me it has got to be SS Seeandbee.
Kudos and big thanks to Alexander Kostov of ScoreTwins for the fancy new intro music! Check out his work at; www.scoretwins.com/
~Mike
I agree with your pick Mike. Though, it was an unusual career like you said it’s an interesting story deserving of it’s own video.
Another fantastic video,have you heard of the s.s. Ticonderoga, the last walking beam side wheeler
Bro said famed british battlecruisers like they didn't all blow up in battle
The Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, MI has actually pulled up and restored a number of the training aircraft that ended up at the bottom of Lake Michigan as a result of accidents. They did a Dauntless a while back, and (iirc) are currently restoring a Wildcat. I can't confirm which carrier they were based off of, but the museum also had a LOVELY model of the Wolverine in 1/72. Definitely worth a look if you're in the area.
Gotta love the Paddler to Aircraft carrier transformation
Hey, it’s our friend, Mike Brady, from Oceanliner Designs!
Mike Brady sounds like a rappers name. Lol
Our friend, Mike Brady, the best friend you can have!
Omg 😱 he’s your friend too??
Iconic phrase
Yes, we've been friends for years. Mike really gets around.
A paddle-wheel aircraft carrier is the most steampunk thing I've ever heard. All she needed was a zeppelin mast.
It's well cool!!!!
So, I am assuming that their is some steampunk anime out their they has this as a location, I mean… of course such a thing would had to been created
And a Jeff Wayne soundtrack! 🎵😂🤣👍🖖
@@jackthorton10 yes, but nothing "canon" or "official"
I would love to see that giant thing with my own eyes!
The HMS Zubian's origin is one of the wildest true stories I've ever heard.
There's the opposite of Zubian, which is Porcupine, who was split into Pork and Pine.
They should've made the 'Nubulu' as well...😁
@@Grandmaster-G Neither of the other halves was in any state to be put together sadly.
@@lafeelabriel Then we should at least offer our respect to the grand struck warship Nubulu and her war effort 😊
I remember reading about these paddlewheel carriers. At first, the concept looked ridiculous but when you consider what they were built for, when they were built and what was achieved they actually made a lot of sense.
i like japanese carriers like ijn akagi and kaga because the way they were built they were tall and they had these huge support pillars on the bow and stern they were gonna be yamato class battle ships but were changed last minute but they shock me because they way they were built
@@Hmshoodfanwell that is just incorrect. Akagi was laid down as an Amagi-class Battlecruiser and Kaga was laid down as a Tosa-class Battleship, both being 1920s designs. Originally Kaga was to be scrapped with Amagi being the 2nd, but after Amagi was severely damaged in an earthquake she was scrapped and Kaga was converted instead. This actually caused some minor problems as Kaga was much slower than almost all other fleet carriers. The carrier that was a converted Yamato-class Battleship was the Shinano.
As a born and raised Michigan native, I love the Great Lakes content! For some reason I get the image stuck in my head that Great Lakes ships were primarily for cargo. Thanks for shedding light on the passenger & wartime ships!
hello . i'm a "yooper" and had a gloriuos 91 day sailing career aboard the M.V. BURNS HARBOR. what a fantastic summer that was...you should try it learn how to bake/make deserts and apply for cooks assistant. great money and great memories..................no previous expiernce needed
To be fair, many of the more well-known vessels that operated in the Great Lakes were cargo ships, namely bulk carriers.
@@Daniel_Huffman SS Edmund Fitzgerald 😔
@@misterramon7447 Exactly.
Being from Michigan I always like the Great Lakes content. My favorite lake conversion is the Lee Tregurtha / USS Chiwawa. The Tregurtha was converted from a fleet oiler to a bulk carrier. She still sails the Great Lakes displaying the 6 battle stars she earned during WWII.
You’re not from Michigan dude.
Many oil tankers got this conversion. The Lee Tregurtha is the last one left sailing
@@PereMarquette1223 And don't forget the former Victory ship that became the Cliffs Victory - the only Great Lakes ore carrier ever built with with 2 separate holds.
The Canadian Transfer, a Great Lakes ship, was cobbled together from two very different ships.
@@American_Savagecan you prove he’s not
The S.S. Suevic incident is one of my favorites in all of nautical history, as it shows the lengths White Star Line would go to save their vessels. I also use it as a way to disprove the Olympic/Titanic switch theory, because if White Star was willing to blow the bow off an older Australian cargo vessel to save it, They’d patch some holes in the stern of their gleaming new transatlantic flagship. Great video as always, Mike!
Totally true, awesome story
Ah, the switch theory. Let's not even get started on this one, it's patently dumb.
@@KPW2137 Yet people still believe it. Somehow being able to switch all the fine furnishes, and sticking an entire new room, Not to mention, entire suites, into a ship within what, weeks? It isn't possible. Of course majority of these people do not know the differences between Titanic and Olympics' layouts. They just go "Oh two ships that look similar, One happened to have it's hole patched up! Conspiricccyyy..."
Yep, and it's even dumber than just that because all the rationale behind the swapping makes no sense. Not to mention that it would be pretty much impossible to cover up. Not with all the people that would have to get involved in. @@zombiedoggie2732
More to the point, how did White Star manage to buy the silence of two ships' companies of 2000 people, a whole shipyard and the entire population of Southampton while they pulled this stunt off? It's amazing what tripe some people will believe.@@zombiedoggie2732
HMS Furious sister ship to Courageous had a bizarre original design of 2 18 inch guns, she became the most heavily armed aircraft carrier in the world as during the experimental conversion they kept the aft 18 inch gun.
Only the Yamatos had 18 inch guns. If you mean 18cm, they yes you are correct.
@@hudsonball4702 Incorrect. The Courageous-class battlecruiser mounted two twin 381 mm( 15") guns in an A-X configuration. Furious, a modification of the Courageous-class, instead mounted two single 457 mm (18") guns. As completed, she kept the after 18" gun, but the fore gun was replaced with a flying-off deck. This indeed makes her the most heavily armed aircraft carrier ever built.
@@hudsonball4702 Wrong. Furious did indeed put to sea with an 18 inch gun. As did HMS General Wolfe, and HMS Lord Clive, WW1 monitors.
Furious is so wild, because she was converted in phases, initially at one point having a flying-off deck up front, a landing deck in the back, but her original superstructure amidships with ramps for moving planes around outboard of it (plus actually setting to sea with the 18" gun as mentioned).
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/SSZ_airship_aboard_HMS_Furious_1918_IWM_Q_20640.jpg
Interesting about the bow removal. Many warships lost their bows in action, and there are hilarious stories of ships steaming backwards across the Pacific, or with temporary bows made from coconut logs!
The story of the Suevic and the mention of the longest ship in the world, was wonderful. I had a little chuckle over that. Thanks mate. 🙂
Another ship with that title is USS Pitssburgh who lost her bow after a typhoon. It was later recovered by a tugboat and nicknamed McKeesport after a suburbs in Pittsburgh
The crashes while training on Sable and Wolverine have provided a great number of raised and restored warbirds for us to enjoy. The ice cold fresh water is less corrosive.
Sadly in recent years invasive mussels have all but destroyed most that weren't already recovered.
The biggest thing that the Seeandbee had going for it was that it was laid up and available. And by the end of the war, she and her sister were just plain worn out. They were already old when they were converted, and the war basically finished wearing them out.
YES! Finally, someone is talking about the paddle wheel carriers. I love it.
Interestingly, the paddle wheel riverboat Delta Queen was also used in WWII and transported wounded crew from the navy to hospital areas on the west coast.
Drachinifel already had a video out, mentionind them
He actually just did a half hour video covering them.
@@iankerridge5720 I know, but it’s cool to see more than just one person talk about something. Sometimes they have different material to present
Those two _freshwater 'carriers'_ are quite fascinating, plus they worked well. Thanks.
This here is the best documentary channel of the great ocean liners of the times.
I had just learned about the Wolverine and the Sable from a war bird channel. Thanks for the more in-depth dive focusing on the ship more than the planes.
That’s a funny coincidence!
Were there any fatalities aboard these ships during flight operations that could be traced to the shortcomings in the modifications? Several years ago someone made a model of one of these carriers, forgot what scale it was; maybe 1/72. It was in Fine Scale Modeler magazine.
@@mh53jnot necessarily due to the ships themselves but there were a few trainees killed. fortunately less than a dozen of the several thousand pilots to come through but some of the trainee pilots who were involved in mishaps in training were killed. Most if not all of them drowning when the planes went off the end of the flight deck or over the side on landing.
If you want an even more in-depth look at them, Drachinifel just did a half hour video on them a few days ago.
USS Wolverine and USS Sable were hugely underrated. Yes, they were not the mighty fleet carriers with a kill counts to brag but those carriers won’t have a fine pilots and aces without these two.
Holy crap it made me SO unbelievably happy to see Zubian in this video, I keep forgetting her name but when you mentioned another Frankenship I knew _exactly_ who it was!
The Italian dreadnought modernization in the 30s and the Ocean liner SS Roma being turned into the Italian Aircraft carrier Aquila would be a good addition to the video
I just love the USS See and Bee. A converted paddle steamer was something unexpected to hear, but that's just what makes her unique. Even whilst she never served in active combat, Wolverine and her shipmate arguably served the more important role of training the air men responsible for delivering some of the most crucial and decisive victories for the US in the Pacific.
Seeing just the bow of a ship being launched down a slipway made my day.
Another stitched together ship is USS Wisconsin (BB-64). In 1956 in heavy fog, she ran into USS Eaton. The then languishing partially built USS Kentucky (a 5th Iowa class battleship) had her bow cut off and grafted onto USS Wisconsin bringing Wisconsin back to full functionality.
Technically, Kentucky was the 6th Iowa class ship.
Unofficially this gave Wisconsin an affectionate nickname similar in origin to the Zubian. Since Kentucky’s state abbreviation is KY, the ship with the grafted bow was known to her crews as the Whisky.
I love the look of the seeandbee so much it’s become my favorite paddle wheel ship by far
For me, nothing beats Waverly, but Seeandbee is a close one; a truly beautiful ship.
This video is fascinating! I enjoyed your coverage of the old Seeandbee. Several of my relatives traveled on her, and the stories of her relative opulence and good times had aboard her were handed down in my family :) This video demonstrates that ingenuity comes in many forms. Great job!
Mike, When my Father (born 1926) was a boy, they used to travel from Buffalo, NY to Ohio to visit his mother's family and frequently the first leg of the trip was on SEEANDBEE. Years later, we be came acquainted with a friend of his cousin here in Buffalo that worked on building the carriers. One of the pilots that qualified on SABLE was George Herbert Walker Bush, later President of the United States.
A ship to look into is the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship RFA Argus. An over 40yr old converted container ship with war honours still in active service today as a hospital, aviation training, lateral strike ship.
I just learned about the USS Wolverine last week from the AirZoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan. They even have some aircraft that served aboard her as trainers on display. Very interesting,
Good on Suevic for briefly becoming the world's longest ship
A great show today Mike! And thanks for bringing us inside SS Seeandbee, I've known about USS Wolverine for years but always wondered what it looked like as a Great Lakes steamer. It looked pretty darn good! Imagine a lake cruise on something like her today!
You mentioned the difficulty in joining the HMS Nubian and HMS Zulu was they were of different beams. That sounded odd as they were both of the Tribal class.
Did some research and found out the Tribal class was a set of specs and each shipyard was free to design them differently. This made each of the 12 built unique.
Finally, some more information about the USS Wolverine and Sable!
Thanks Mike, my uncles always talked about the side wheel carriers when the grew up in Chicago
Confusion is an understatement for the Germans at Zubian's appearance, I imagine. The hell the intelligence service got for missing an entire ship's production is pretty funny to imagine.
Mike, another brilliant episode. You are providing such a great service to maritime history, not to mention great entertainment. Bless you!
5:46, A similar procedure was done on the MV Nyon after she ran aground on the rocks at St. Abbs Head, Scotland in 1958.
After being fitted with her new bow in 1959, the Nyon would serve for 3 more years before colliding with another cargo ship named Jalazad under foggy conditions and meeting her demise
Another ship you may want to consider for being made over is SS Governor Cobb. This ship has the double distinction of being not only the first American-built ship to be powered by steam turbines, but also, late in her career, of becoming the world's first helicopter carrier. My Grandfather was First Mate when it was taken to Philadelphia. And was aboard when the navy inspected it.
19 minutes was the exact amount of time to eat lunch. Thanks Mike!
SS Suevic. 508km long from stem to stern.
TAKE THAT, TITANIC!
In comparison, Titanic is only about 1km from stem to stern.
I actually found out about the Seeandbee when reading the "Nickel Plate Story" (A book about the New York Chicago & St.Louis railroad) and instantly fell in love with her quirky design.
You have no idea how surprised I was when i found out she was converted to an aircraft carrier. A strange one at that too.
Have it, great book! I watched the Berkshires flying by until I was a teenager.
Mike, you forgot to add this video to the Ship Makeover playlist.
Anyways, good video as always
I always like before I watch because I already know that the video will be great!
From a Light Cruiser to a Carrier... Would love to see you cover the USS Independence class of carriers... Great and very informative video... keep up the awesome work...
You should have mentioned the SS Stubby, the front and rear sections of the first 1000 ft ore carrier on the Great Lakes. The Stubby was built on the East Coast and sailled through the Wellington Canal to Erie Pennsylvania where it was cut in half and welded to the midsection that was built on the Great Lakes, and became the Stuart J. Cort. You do a great job with your channel.
*Welland
Was the SS Stubby named after Sgt. Stubby, the war dog?
The SS Suevic has got to be my favorite funny ocean liner stories. despite initial seriousness, and the straining efforts of all involved, it is just gold.
The importance of the role USS Wolverine (and Sable) played in helping the USN train pilots is definitely understated. Being able to equip the Essex-Swarm with well trained pilots was a huge advantage.
Absolutely fascinating. Thank you for compiling and presenting these interesting nuggets of history.
The Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan has been fishing out and restoring training planes that didn't stick the landings while Sable and Wolverine were in use. They have interactive exhibits for people to check out. It is a pity neither ship was kept as a museum, but I suppose at the time no one ever thought there would be a market for such things.
At 1:33 you can see Seeandbee performing what on the Great Lakes is called the "Captain's Salute" (one long and two short blasts on the whistle or horn). The Captain's Salute is a familiar sound to residents of Duluth, Minnesota, where it's the traditional salute exchanged between ships incoming or outgoing and the Aerial Lift Bridge's operation cab. The one exception is SS Arthur M. Anderson, which uses a longer salute (two long and two short) on occasions where she is entering the harbor on November 10th, marking the anniversary of the wreck of SS Edmund Fitzgerald.
I simply LOVE your ship makeover videos 🥹
Bro thanks sooo much this is my favourite series
Your Buster Keaton cameos are absolutely incredible. Lol
Love the Great Lakes content, we who are surrounded be these incredible bodies of water, salute you!
I like the new intro. Really wild makeovers! Thanks
Great video, as always!
BTW, amongst the many ships that were converted into aircraft carrier, there is the strange case of Ise and Hyūga, two japanese battleships that were only half turned into aircraft carrier, staying half battleship on the forward part...
As a Briton, I'm grateful for Mike's insightful presentation that highlights the nation's shipbuilding legacy. It's a poignant reminder of our once-great industry and the engineering giants it produced. While it's sad to see its demise, especially in my region of Scotland, it astounds me that we once had people with the brains to fashion two ships together, compared to now, when Scotland can't even produce a single ferry without it ending in shambles. Your dedication ensures these stories live on, inspiring many, myself included. Thank you, Mike, for preserving our heritage.
A lot of the early carriers were indeed conversions, many come to mind - Langley (CV-1), Lexington and Saratoga (CV-2 and 3), courageous and glorious as mentioned, kaga and akagi for the japanese and so on...
“Necessity really is the mother of invention” as these ships have proven. Thank you for another great Sunday afternoon.
This us the kind of history that fascinates me. Keep it up.
My mother took a trip on SS Seeandbee, it was a classy boat. Wolverine and Sable probably saved many aviators' lives by providing carrier training in a controlled environment.
Fresh water aircraft carriers! Something I had never heard of before. Thanks Mike, for another interesting and well made video
..I knew about the aircraft carriers in our lake here in Chicago, but not of the other modifications here, great job! I'm always learning something new here!
!! Wolverine mention !!
The aircraft museum at Willow Run has a really cool exhibit about WW2 training on the Great Lakes, centered around a mostly intact crashed SBD Dauntless from 1943, recovered in 1996. It's definitely worth a visit if you're in the Detroit area.
Jackie Fisher was one mad genius. The Spurious and Outrageous were not his best work but his legacy still lives to this day OMG!
Ooh, new intro!
I've heard about the Zubian before, it's always been a very funny story to me!
But I hadn't heard of the USS Wolverine! As someone who digs paddle ships, that's probably my favorite!
Brilliant video, these are some very bizarre and interesting ship makeovers, what amazing stories
I’m loving this new intro!
The USA's paddle-wheel aircraft-carriers have always been a source of great delight for me.
The story of the Suevic is astonishing. The speed with which they were able to restore the vessel, in 1907, without benefit of most of the powered manufacturing machinery of today (and without computers to do the design!) is hard to grasp. Great video, as usual!
You’ll LOVE the story of USS Pittsburgh (CA-72). After it’s bow broke off in a typhoon, it went to Guam for temporary repairs before proceeding to Puget Sound in Washington. Thing is it’s bow was found bobbing around upside down where it was towed to Guam, where it stayed.
As measured from stem to stern, one source cites 5,656 miles long. 🤣
I love the Cornbelt Fleet carriers. First heard of them in the mid-2000s when brainstorming a steampunk setting with some online friends, and someone brought them up.
This may be one of the most interesting and fascinating episodes on your channel. Your photo documentation is truly remarkable. Thanks so much for this brilliant vblog.
I learned about the wolverine on a visit to chicago, it's one of those things your rarely here about but when you do, it makes so much sense. the great lakes are in land seas and made it possible to train pilots in perfect safety.
Thank you so much for covering the Wolverine and Sable. They are just interesting ships.
I had no idea about the paddlewheel aircraft carriers. But I can see how it would make sense. Very smart of the Navy at the time, and a fitting end to an intriguing, but amazing ship.
SS Seeandbee was an old ship. She got a new lease on life as USS Wolverine. USS Wolverine and USS Sable were, I'll argue, almost critical to teaching our carrier Aviators how to land, thus enhancing our odds in the PTO.
Got to admit it. The carriers in the great lakes is pretty brilliant...
This got me looking up the Suevic on Wikipedia - which includes the fact that the bow was removed with dynamite charges, because they didn't have ocyacetylene cutting torches in 1907. Which makes it even more impressive! Thanks for the insight!
Hi Mike! What a fascinating episode! Maybe you should call these makeover episodes Pimp My Ship! Seriously, though, the paddlewheel aircraft carriers and the Suevic story were mind-blowing! Thanks for sharing their stories!
The Courageous class was a key part of the Fisher's Baltic Plan. Very specific designs for the shallow waters of the Baltic.
Because your content makes me happy.
I am still surprised that he still hasn't found out about it comment!
Fascinating stories told respectfully. Good job.
A video about Seeandbee! This great ship usually doesn’t get the attention it deserves
don’t deadname the wolvie :P
I also liked the USS SEE ANDBEE . when you said side steam paddle boat my first thought ( jokingly ) was" I wonder if Mark Twain was part of the crew ? " . Those were some very interesting stories and I loved your term " Frankenship " . Keep up the great work and much respect from Dundalk , Maryland 👍👍
Mike Brady, as always, great information provided with class and detail. Thank you!
Good one Mike, thanks for covering them.
Out of the weirdest ship conversion list in the video, I don't think nothing tops this ship conversion I know of.
How about the Ostpreussen? A freighter made from *two U-Boats?*
May I ask for a bit more details about this ship?
SS Suevic just slammed it's way up into my top 10 favorite boat list X3
Cup of hot coffee and an episode of Oceanliner Designs, .....its a good day. Cheers Mike.
Reminds me of that ship of theseus paradox, but slightly different.
The Suevic made me think of a person getting a leg or arm amputated and having a prosthetic attached. That made me lol. Excellent video as always, Mike!
Btw I’ve literally just been to Chatham dockyard. I live in it!
It made me think more of the way modern large ships are built. Entire sections are prefabricated and then assembled, like gigantic Lego blocks!
@@scotpens it’s like some cruise ships being sliced in half and then extending them by adding new sections.
If my memory is correct, she later had her stern changed. And ended her life as a whaleship.
I love this channel. Just wish you would post more often!
2 a week is pretty good! If I did any more I would probably explode and you would all get sick of me anyway :-)
@@OceanlinerDesigns you know that last bit is not true lol. But yeah I think I’m satisfied enough with one or two videos a week. As long as I get constant new content from you and you don’t push yourself to work beyond your limit ^-^
Quality over quantity.
@@OceanlinerDesigns 2 videos a week is a good pace. If it works, stick with it!
Good stuff as always. Thanks!😊
This was an Outstanding video. Great job Mike.
This is the Best channel... always interesting and amusing!
Ik it’s not a recent video. But I’ve been watching a couple videos. You earned a subscriber out of me I love the feeling while watching your videos. It’s just calm and the classical in the back is perfect
That replacement bow was amazing!
An excellent video as always, although I would definitely suggest talking about the IJN Shinano's curious development history and conversion partway through in a future video in this series.
That new intro is absolutely amazing!
Great video as usual Imagine blowing the bow off a ship, steaming the stern to a yard, putting a new bow on it and sailing it again!
The Great Lakes training facility just north of Chicago. I believe is still one of the largest training facilities the Navy has
I enjoy your programs and am looking forward to seeing more.