Comments on: History of Everything – The Freshwater Paddle Carriers https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/the-evening-pause/history-of-everything-the-freshwater-paddle-carriers/ Sat, 14 Mar 2026 18:07:42 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Richard M https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/the-evening-pause/history-of-everything-the-freshwater-paddle-carriers/#comment-1629781 Sat, 14 Mar 2026 18:07:42 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=122148#comment-1629781 17,000 carrier qualified pilots! That’s the achievement of the Great Lakes paddle wheel carriers, and it made an enormous contribution to the American victory in the Pacific War. Not glamorous, but very necessary.

The British Youtuber Drachinifel did a nice 30 minute treatment on these two carriers a couple years ago, that compliments this video pretty well and gives some more depth, for those that want it: https://youtu.be/2FaIc4qRdLI?si=SuWBA4UJyexbTJKl

Also worth a look (and a purchase): George J. Joachim’s
Iron Fleet: Great Lakes in World War II ( Wayne State University Press, 1994).

]]> By: F https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/the-evening-pause/history-of-everything-the-freshwater-paddle-carriers/#comment-1629768 Sat, 14 Mar 2026 13:22:41 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=122148#comment-1629768 Makes you appreciate the need for constant vigilance. Our tendency toward isolationism in the decades prior to World War II left us unprepared when our enemies struck, and many of our weapons of war were terribly outmatched.

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