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Aircraft Carrier Qualification on Lake Michigan
		In 1942 an ambitious project to qualify Navy pilots for Aircraft carrier landings and take-offs began at Navy Pier, Chicago. Two former passenger liners the Sea and Bee and the Greater Buffalo were to become the U.S.S. Wolverine and the U.S.S. Sable.
		The superstructures were removed and makeshift flattops were installed.
		The U.S.S. Wolverine was the first of the two ships to be ready for duty, beginning in late 1942.
		Two Aircraft carriers docked at Navy Pier, Chicago.
		Aircraft carrier Underway.
		Fighter, Dive-bomber, and Torpedo-bomber pilots were qualified. The TBF/TBM Avenger was the airplane developed for torpedo-bombing.
		The Lake Michigan Flat-tops trained over 15,000 pilots between the years of 1942 and 1945. Although there were accidents, human casualties were few and the program was a remarkable success.
		The small number of actual airplanes lost in the Lake during the training has provided the opportunity to present history to future generations.
The above images are the courtesy of the Chicago Maritime Society A&T Recovery, Chicago-based firm, has already recovered 31 World War II planes from the lake on behalf of the National Museum of Naval Aviation