This is the SS Seeandbee in 1912, decades before the US purchased it in March 1942.
The president of the company that owned the SS Seeandbee, Thomas J. McGuire, reportedly even overcharged the US by $500,000 for the ship. He was later fined only $5,000 for the fraudulent price.
To convert the ship into a carrier, the US stripped off the large wooden superstructure and exhausts.
It had a 550-foot flight deck, about a long as modern-day guided missile cruiser.
Source: globalsecurity.org
Twelve coal-fired Scotch boilers propelled its two side-wheels to a top speed of less than 23 mph.
Source: navsource.org, globalsecurity.org
During WWII, the Wolverine, along with its sister trainer, the USS Sable, conducted more than 120,000 landings and qualified more than 35,000 pilots.
But the trainer carriers had a problem with what is called "wind over the deck."
When there was little or no wind on Lake Michigan, training had to stop because the carriers couldn't generate enough speed to support landings.
Source: globalsecurity.org
The Wolverine was later decommissioned in November 1945, a few months after the war's end, and later sold for scrap.
Source: US Navy