Do USS Michigan, Wolverine, and Sable qualify as uniquely quirky American warships?
Short answerMichigan's paddle propulsion was not unusual for its era, while Wolverine and Sable are most revealing as urgent carrier-pilot training conversions.
NotesPaddle-wheel warships were not automatically quirky in their own nineteenth-century context because several navies operated them. USS Wolverine and USS Sable are more revealing as Second World War training carriers. Their conversion let the US Navy qualify pilots rapidly without tying up an operational fleet carrier. The unusual ships point to the institutional demands behind mass naval-aviation expansion rather than merely presenting an odd silhouette.