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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Sable (IX-81)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Yankee - Zulu - Papa NYZP

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal

Training Aircraft Carrier:

Built in 1924 as SS Greater Buffalo at American Shipbuilding Co., Lorain OH.

Acquired for the Navy, 8 August 1942

Converted for Naval service as a Training Aircraft Carrier at the Erie Plant, American Shipbuilding Co., Buffalo, N.Y.

Commissioned USS Sable (IX-81), 8 May 1943, CDR. Warren K. Berner, in command

Decommissioned, 7 November 1945

Struck from the Naval Register, 28 November 1945

Transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal

Final Disposition, sold 25 June 1948, for scrapping in Canada, to H. H. Buncher Co., (PD-X-461) for $126,176.00, broken up for scrap 27 July 1948

Specifications:
Displacement 6,584 t.
Length 535'
Beam 58'
Complement unknown
Armament none

Propulsion

two compound reciprocating engines

Scotch boilers

Ship's Service Generators

two turbo-drive 75Kw 120V D.C.

three turbo-drive 100Kw 120V D.C.

two sidewheels

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
Merchant Service
	113k	SS Greater Buffalo underway on the Great Lakes prior to World War II. Photos courtesy of University of Detroit Mercy Fr. Edward J. Dowling, S.J. Marine Historical Collection. These photos are subject to copyright protection unless otherwise indicated. The documents may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium, provided it is reproduced accurately and not used in a misleading context. The source of the material, the University of Detroit Mercy Fr. Edward J. Dowling, S.J. Marine Historical Collection, must be identified and the copyright status acknowledged.	Robert Hurst.
	138k
	115k
	245k	Post card image of the steamer SS Greater Buffalo. Post card caption reads "NEW STEAMERS GREATER DETROIT - GREATER BUFFALO The two largest steamers of their type in the world, each having 26 parlors with bath; 130 staterooms with toilets; automobile capacity, 125; 650 staterooms; crew of 300 including officers. The cost of these leviathans of the Great lakes is approximately $7,000,000."	Tommy Trampp
	79k	Post card image of the Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Company sidewheel excursion steamer SS Greater Buffalo underway. Photo from Western New York Heritage Press.	Robert Hurst
	92k	The sidewheel excursion steamer SS Greater Buffalo getting underway in 1941, location unknown. Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Company side-wheel excursion steamer. Photo from Western New York Heritage Press.	Robert Hurst
	167k	Advertisement for Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Companys' side-wheel excursion steamers SS Greater Detroit and SS Greater Buffalo. During World War II *Greater Buffalo* was converted for Naval service as a Training Aircraft Carrier and renamed *USS Sable* (IX-81)**.	Tommy Trampp
	72k	SS Greater Buffalo and SS Greater Detroit cabin diagram.	Tommy Trampp
	159k	The steamer SS Greater Buffalo underway, 1 January 1942, prior to its conversion to training carrier *USS Sable* (IX-81)*. U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation photo No.NNAM.1996.488.018.010*.	Robert Hurst
	110k	SS Greater Buffalo arriving at Buffalo, N.Y., 6 August 1942, for conversion to *USS Sable* (IX-81)**. Note the towering wooden superstructure on top of the low steel hull. Only the latter was retained in the conversion. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo No. NH 81066, courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Mike Green
USS Sable (IX-81)
094608126	137k	Sable (IX-81) fitting out at the Erie plant of American Shipbuilding Co., Buffalo, N.Y., 15 January 1943, during conversion from "SS Greater Buffalo. Note the flight deck is still incomplete, the name "Greater Buffalo" is still on the paddle boxes and the four exhaust funnels have yet to be encasing for two stack arrangement. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 81064	Bob Canchola
	399k	*USS Sable* (IX-81)** underway, in the Great Lakes, circa 1943-45. US Navy photo. Photo and text from "Aircraft Carriers of The World, 1914 to the Present: An Illustrated Encyclopedia" by Roger Chesneau.	Robert Hurst
094608121	173k	*USS Sable* (IX-81) moored at Chicago's Navy Pier where she and USS Wolverine (IX-64)** were both homeported within the vicinity of NAS Glenview during WWII. US Navy photo	Bob Canchola
	696k	*USS Sable* (IX-81)** underway in Lake Michigan, date unknown. US Navy photo. Photo and text from "Aircraft Carriers of The World, 1914 to the Present: An Illustrated Encyclopedia" by Roger Chesneau.	Robert Hurst
094608122	280k	*USS Sable* (IX-81)** moored in Lake Erie ice at American Shipbuilding Co., Buffalo, NY., April 1943. US Navy/font>	Bob Canchola
	55k	*USS Sable* (IX-81)** at anchor in Lake Michigan, date unknown. US Navy photo	Robert Hurst
094608130	155k	*USS Sable* (IX-81)** flight deck crewmen spring into action, 10 June 1943, after a U.S. Navy North American SNJ Texan traps on board the training aircraft carrier while operating on Lake Michigan. The crewmen removed the aircraft's tailhook from the arresting wires and prepared it for launch as Sable had no room to park aircraft. U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation photo No. 2003.220.010	Robert Hurst
	2027k	*USS Sable* (IX-81) and USS Wolverine (IX-64)** newspaper articles.	Ron Reeves
094608123 NA 80-G-387151(1C)	219k	*USS Sable* (IX-81)** in West Grand Traverse Bay, off Traverse City, Michigan, with two TDN-1 drones on her flight deck for tests, 10 August 1943. US National Archives Photo # (80-G-387151) (1B), and 90-G-387151, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives	Bob Canchola
094608133	84k	Two TDN-1 drones parked on the flight deck of *USS Sable* (IX-81)** off Traverse City, MI., 10 August 1943. FLICKR - Ronnie Bell	John Spivey
	252k	A Naval Aircraft Factory TDN-1 assault drone launches from the flight deck of *USS Sable* (IX-81)** while steaming off Traverse City, Michigan, during flight tests, 10 August 1943. Note this aircraft's unoccupied cockpit. The TDN was intended for use as a television-guided attack drone. US National Archives Photo # 80-G-387174, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives	Robert Hurst
	51k	A Naval Aircraft Factory TDN-1 assault drone taxies on the flight deck of *USS Sable* (IX-81)** while a second TDN-1 sits parked by the carrier's island, date unknown. US Navy photo.	Robert Hurst
094608129	251k	A Naval Aircraft Factory TDN-1 assault drone takes off. 10 August 1943, from the flight deck of *USS Sable* (IX-81)*. This drone has an excessive nose-up attitude and is probably about to stall. Note the Grumman J2F Duck off the ship's port bow, possibly acting as a drone control aircraft. U.S. Navy photo from Flckr posted by tormentor4555*	Robert Hurst
094608134	94k	A Naval Aircraft Factory TDN-1 assault drone takes off. 10 August 1943, from the flight deck of *USS Sable* (IX-81)*. The drone had an excessive nose-up attitude looks like it is going into a stall. U.S. Navy photo from Flckr posted by Ronnie Bell*	John Spivey
094608124	192k	*USS Sable* (IX-81)** underway in the Great Lakes with a Wildcat fighter launching from the flight deck in 1945. US Navy photo.	Bob Canchola
094608128	80k	North American SNJ-3 trainer (Bu. No. 01876) taking off from *USS Sable* (IX-81)** in May 1945 during training operations on the Great Lakes. US National Archives photo # 80-G-354751, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives	Robert Hurst
094608131	105k	Landing Signal Officer LT. Whitaker, in action during training operations aboard the U.S. Navy training carrier *USS Sable* (IX-81)** on the Great Lakes in May 1945. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo # 80-G-354748	Robert Hurst
	114k	A General Motors FM-2 "Wildcat" fighter upended after a barrier crash on board *USS Sable* (IX-81)*, during pilot training in the Great Lakes, May 1945. Another FM-2 is flying past in top center. US National Archives photo # 80-G-354753*, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives	US Naval Historical Center
	125k	*USS Sable* (IX-81)** underway in Lake Michigan, in June 1945 after a Wildcat fighter crashed into the barrier. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command, Photo No. NH 43516, courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Mike Green
094608125	253k	Port side view of *USS Sable* (IX-81)** underway in the Great Lakes with a Wildcat fighter nosed over on the flight deck, in 1945. US Navy photo.	Bob Canchola
094608120 NA 80-G-387151	380k		Bob Canchola
	147k	*USS Sable* (IX-81)** moored in the icy waters of Lake Michigan at the Chicago Navy Pier in 1945. US Navy photo courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Mike Green
094606460	145k	The Great Lakes paddlewheel carriers of the 9th Naval District Carrier Qualification Training Unit (CQTU) at rest and tied up to the Navy Pier on the Chicago waterfront in the 1940s. Though moored at the pier, both *USS Wolverine* (IX-64) (right) and USS Sable (IX-81) (left) were attached to Naval Air Station Glenview, Illinois. Located in Glenview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, the air base primarily operated training aircraft as well as seaplanes on nearby Lake Michigan during the Second World War. Later during the war, NAS Glenview also hosted advanced training in Fleet combat aircraft, primarily for carrier qualification in Lake Michigan aboard the Chicago home ported Sable and Wolverine*. Today, the Navy Pier (the long structure in the foreground), is a tourist and entertainment destination with, still intact, lake terminal (lower left). Vintage Wings website*	Bob Canchola
094606404	335k	The Navy's two Carrier Qualification Training Units (CQTU) on Lake Michigan, *USS Wolverine* (IX-64) and USS Sable (IX-81)** docked at Chicago's Navy pier after World War II.	Bob Canchola
094608127	371k	A late model General Motors-built Grumman FM-2 Wildcat in flight over *USS Sable* (IX-81) which, with no wake evident, appears to be floating dead in the water. General Motors/Eastern Aircraft produced more than 5,000 copies of the FM variant. Grumman's Wildcat production line closed in early 1943 to make way for the newer and more powerful F6F Hellcat but, under license, General Motors continued producing Wildcats for both US Navy and Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm use. Late in the war, the Wildcat was obsolete as a front line fighter compared to the faster F6F Hellcat or F4U Corsair. However, they were adequate for small escort carriers against submarine and shore threats and for advanced flying training on USS Sable (IX-81) and USS Wolverine (IX-64)*. Reddit website*	Bob Canchola
094608132	116k	A U.S. Navy Douglas SBD-2 Dauntless after being raised from Lake Michigan in 1994. It was one of only eight SBD-2 Dauntlesses of *VMSB-241* to return to Midway Island from the attack against the Japanese fleet on 26 May 1942. Returned to the U.S., it was repaired and eventually assigned to the Carrier Qualification Training Unit (CQTU) at NAS Glenview, Illinois. On the morning of 11 June 1943 Marine 2nd Lt Donald A. Douglas Jr. ditched the aircraft in the waters of Lake Michigan during an errant approach to the training carrier *USS Sable* (IX-81)*. Recovered in 1994, the aircraft underwent extensive restoration at the museum before being placed on public display at the U.S. National Museum of Naval Aviation at Pensacola, Florida, in 2001. Elements of its original paint scheme when delivered to the fleet are still visible on its wings and tail surfaces. U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation. Photo No. 26996*	Robert Hurst
094606456	52k	US Navy Carrier Qualification Training Unit (CQTU) Great Lakes insignia. US National Archives photo # 80-G-19618	Bob Canchola
094606462	366k	"Heros on Deck - World War II on Lake Michigan" A one hour documentary of the history and operation of the two fresh water Great Lakes sidewheel paddle steamers converted to the training aircraft carriers, *USS Wolverine* (IX-64) and USS Sable (IX-81)**.	Bob Canchola

USS Sable (IX-81)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	CDR. Berner, Warren Kenneth, USN, (USNA 1922)	8 May 1943 - 8 March 1944
02	CDR. Schoech, William Alton :VADM	8 March 1944 - March 1944
03	CDR. Craig, Kenneth (NMN) USN (USNA 1926)	March 1944 - 18 October 1944
04	CDR. Ashford Jr., William Henry :RADM	18 October 1944 - 7 November 1945

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
MARAD Vessel History Database
Warbird Information Exchange - USS Sable and Wolverine

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 22 March 2024