page_title: USS Wolverine (IX-64)
section_title: Hull and engineering
hierarchical_section_title: USS Wolverine (IX-64) / Design and construction / Hull and engineering
caption_attribution_description: English: Seeandbee engine room view, starting platform.
context_page_description: USS Wolverine (IX-64) was a training ship used by the United States Navy during World War II. She was originally named Seeandbee and was built as a Great Lakes luxury side-wheel steamer cruise ship for the Cleveland and Buffalo Transit Company. Seeandbee was launched on 9 November 1912 and was normally used on the Cleveland, Ohio, to Buffalo, New York, route with special cruises to other ports. After the original owners went bankrupt in 1939 Seeandbee was purchased by Chicago-based C & B Transit Company and continued operating until 1941.
  Seeandbee was acquired by the United States Navy in 1942 and was quickly converted into a freshwater aircraft carrier for the advanced training of naval aviators in carrier take-offs and landings. Renamed USS Wolverine she was not equipped with armor, hangar deck, elevators or armaments. Wolverine was shorter and lower to the water than many of the aircraft carriers of the day but she was instrumental in her pilot training mission.
  The first aircraft landing on USS Wolverine occurred during September 1942.
context_section_description: The ship's dimensions as built were 500 ft (152.4 m) length overall, 485 ft (147.8 m) between perpendiculars, 58 ft (17.7 m) molded hull beam, 97 ft 8 in (29.8 m) extreme beam over guards with extreme depth of hull at stem being 30 ft 4 in (9.2 m) and 23 ft 6 in (7.2 m) molded depth. The hull was entirely steel with a double bottom extending almost 365 ft (111.3 m) containing water ballast and divided lengthwise with a watertight bulkhead and by transverse bulkheads into fourteen compartments. Above that 3 ft (0.9 m) ballast compartment the ship was divided by eleven watertight bulkheads extending from keel to main deck with hydraulic doors operated from the engine room. In total there were seven decks: tank top, orlop, main, promenade, gallery, upper and dome. Steel was used to the promenade deck with fire protection for beams above that level and fireproof doors provided compartmentalization and steel fire curtains in cargo spaces. For fire alarm purposes the vessel was divided into fifty sections with fire hydrants spaced so that permanently attached hoses reached every point in the vessel and an extensive sprinkler system.
  Propulsion was by an inclined, three-cylinder steam engine below the main deck with only the main bearing tops, upper parts of the valves and handling levers above the main deck. The engine was unique in using a Walschaert gear, normally used on locomotives, to drive a Corliss gear for the two low-pressure cylinders and the poppet type valves on the high-pressure portion. The speed guarantee of 22 miles per hour (35.4 km/h; 19.1 kn) was met by the engine's 12,000 ihp (8,900 kW) at 31 revolutions per minute. The high-pressure cylinder, 66 in (167.6 cm) in diameter, was centered between the two low-pressure cylinders of 96 in (243.8 cm) diameter with steam provided by six single ended and three double ended Scotch boilers forward of the engine room delivering steam at 165 pounds per square inch. The single ended boilers were 14 ft (4.3 m) inside diameter by 10 ft 6 in (3.2 m) length and the double ended boilers were 14 ft 2.1875 in (4.3 m) mean diameter by 20 ft 5.5 in (6.2 m) length. The two 32 ft 9 in (10.0 m) diameter paddle wheels each had eleven steel buckets 14 ft 10 in (4.5 m) long by 5 ft (1.5 m) wide. Due to the restricted channels at both Cleveland and Buffalo additional maneuvering capability was required and a bow rudder and steam steering engine were provided.
  Washed air ventilation units provided fresh air for all interior spaces with exhaust fans for removal of foul air. Three steam turbines drove generator sets providing electricity for 4,500 electric lights, including the largest searchlight (32 in (81.3 cm)) on the Great Lakes, and the ship was extensively electrified for auxiliary functions. Over 500 telephones were onboard, with one in every stateroom, the officer's quarters and booths in passenger areas as part of a public system and a private system for use in ship operations.
caption: Seeandbee engine room view of starting platform.
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