A bow view of the training aircraft carrier Wolverine as she steams through the waters of Lake Michigan during World War II. Both training carriers, Wolverine and Sable, maintained a brisk operating schedule, with only the icing of Lake Michigan during the harsh winter months keeping the two ships from their appointed rounds.

A popular series of instructional materials issued to naval aviation personnel during World War II, the so-called Sense Pamphlets touched on an array of topics. The cover of each pamphlet featured a cartoon by illustrator Robert Osborn, who had a knack for capturing the essence of the pamphlet's subject. Such was the case with Carrier Sense, which showed a profusely sweating naval aviator being greeted by various classes of aircraft carriers taking the form of women. The most difficult evolution in all of aviation, landing an aircraft on a moving airfield in the form of an aircraft carrier deck, provided many an anxious moment for the recently-winged aviators doing it for the first time on board the Lake Michigan carriers.

For thousands of naval aviators, the pathway to becoming a fleet carrier pilot passed through the Carrier Qualification Training Unit (CQTU) at Naval Air Station (NAS) Glenview, Illinois. Here they climbed into aircraft and headed out over the waters of Lake Michigan to perform their required traps and take offs on board the training carriers Wolverine and Sable. The insignia of the CQTU, which was actually painted on the cowlings of some of the unit's aircraft, featured Donald Duck waving paddles while serving as a Landing Signal Officer (LSO).

In a scene that was not uncommon on board the Lake Michigan training aircraft carriers during World War II, flight deck personnel on board Sable attempt to clear the deck after a mishap involving an FM Wildcat. Given the fact that pilots operating on board the carriers were making their first ever landings and take offs, accidents were not uncommon.