SCUTTLED JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER in Tokyo Bay

[Snafu]

SCUTTLED JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER in Tokyo Bay (top); submarines tied up at Maizuru Naval Base (bottom). The submarine nearest the dock is a German U-boat which had been given the Japanese for training purposes.

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[browningautorifle]

Interesting "Carrier". I understand they had a habit of converting other ships to this purpose by clipping the top and putting a flat deck on. What a mess that dock area would have been, all that garbage sitting there. It can't be left, so the allies would have to make it seaworthy before towing it out to sink it.

[vintage hunter]

I understand they had a habit of converting other ships to this purpose by clipping the top and putting a flat deck on.

The Japs weren't alone in this. The U.S. and Britain did the same thing using commercial merchant vessels and ocean liners and in at least one case a captured enemy ship. The HMS Audacity was converted from the captured German merchant ship MV Hannover.

[M1903Guy]

The United States converted two side-wheel (paddle wheel) steamers into aircraft carriers. The USS Wolverine (IX-64) and USS Sable (IX-81) were used to train Naval Aviators on carrier take off and landings. They operated out of Chicago on Lake Michigan.

[Bob Womack]

My dad worked with the Naval radar and sonar lab at Navy Pier. He would go out and eat his lunch with his feet dangling over the edge and watch flight ops on the Sable and Wolverine. One feature of these operations was missed approaches and take offs, which were part of the draw that brought him out daily. My father was probably watching the day that the Wildcats and Avengers that are being fished out of Lake Michigan went into the drink.

Bob

[browningautorifle]

My father was probably watching the day that the Wildcats and Avengers that are being fished out of Lake Michigan went into the drink.

I was thinking about that very thing.

[Bob Womack]

Sub commander Paul Schratz was tasked with sailing back one of the Japanese subs after the war. Though unique, it was one of the worst experiences of his career. Calling the sub's crew provisions "primitive" would be a compliment. More in his book, Submarine Commander.

Bob