USS Midway (CV-41)

History of USS Midway (CV-41)

USS Midway (CVB/CVA/CV-41) is the aircraft carrier of the United States Navy and the capital ship of its class. Eight days after World War II, the USS Midway was the world's largest ship until 1955, and the first U.S. aircraft carrier to be too large to pass through the Panama Canal.

She served 47 years, during which time she served in the Vietnam War and served as the Persian Gulf flagship in Operation Desert Storm in 1991. She was retired in 1992 and is now a museum ship at the USS Midway Museum in San Diego, California, and the only U.S. aircraft carrier that is not an Essex-class aircraft carrier.

idway paved on October 27, 1943 at Newport News Shipbuilding Company's Ship Channel 11, Newport News, Virginia; launched March 20, 1945 sponsored by Mrs. Bradford William Ripley, Jr. ; and served under the command of Captain Joseph F. Bolger on September 10, 1945 (8 days after the Japanese surrender).

After adjustments in the Caribbean, Midway joined the training program of the US Atlantic Fleet, with Norfolk being her home port. From 20 February 1946, she was the flagship of the 1st Carrier Division. In March, she participated in Operation Frostbite, testing Ryan FR fireball and helicopter rescue techniques in cold weather operations in the Labrador Sea. In September 1947, a captured German V-2 rocket was tested on the flight deck of Operation Sandy, the first time a large rocket was launched from a mobile platform and the only time a V-2 with a mobile platform was launched Rocket launching.

When the rocket took off, it pitched and disintegrated at 15,000 feet (4,600 meters).

On October 29, 1947, USS Midway made her first voyage of the year in the Mediterranean with the 6th Fleet. During deployment, Midway was trained and modified to accommodate heavier aircraft during development.

Midway operates in the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Virginia during the F9F-5 Panther's carrier capability test, June 1951. On June 23, as Cdr. George Chamberlain Duncan attempted to land at BuNo 125228, downdrafts from the stern caused Duncan to crash. The front fuselage of his plane snapped and rolled off the deck, leaving him with burns.

Footage of the crash was used in several films, including Men Who Fight the Lady, Midway, and Finding Red October.

In 1952, the ship participated in Operation Mainbrace, a North Sea exercise with NATO forces. After piloting the technology on the HMS Triumph in mid-May, a sloping runway was mapped on the flight deck to allow for touch-and-go landings.

The successful demonstration of the possibility has led to the widespread adoption of angled flight decks in future aircraft carrier construction and in the retrofitting of existing aircraft carriers. On October 1, the ship was renamed CVA-41. Mid-1965, after SCB-110

Midway sailed from Norfolk on 27 December 1954 to Taiwan via the Cape of Good Hope for a circumnavigation of the globe, and by 28 June 1955 she became the first major airline of the 7th Fleet on the Western Pacific route. During the Kinmen-Matsu crisis, midway pilots provided cover for the evacuation of 15,000 Chinese Nationalist troops and 20,000 Chinese civilians and their livestock from the Ayutthaya Islands.

Specification

Basic

Year of Service

1945

Origins

United States

Status

stop service

Reserved.

supplement

4,100

staff

Class information

Class

Interim classes

Class Size

3

ships

Class

USS Midway (CV-41); USS Franklin D Roosevelt (CV-42); USS Coral Sea (CV-43)

Operators

United States

Roles

Flagships/Capital Ships

Take on the role of fleet flagship or capital ship in old battleship design/terminology.

Distinctive Features

Rocket Weapons

The ship supports long-range missile launches to air, sea or land-based targets; typical of modern design.

Dimensions and Weight

Length

972. 0 ft

296. 27 m

Beam

113. 0 ft

34. 44 m

Draught

35. 0 ft

10. 67 m

Displacement

60,000

tons

POWER & PERFORMANCE

Installed Power:

12 x Boilers with 4 x Westinghouse geared steam turbines driving 4 x shafts.

Surface Speed

33. 0 kts

(38. 0 mph)

kts = knots | mph = miles-per-hour | nm = nautical miles | mi = miles | km = kilometers1 kts = 1. 15 mph | 1 nm = 1. 15 mi | 1 nm = 1. 85 km

ARMAMENT

As Built:18 x 5" /54 Mark 16 guns84 x 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft cannons68 x 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft gunsAt End of Career:2 x 8-cell Sea Sparrow anti-aircraft missile launchers. 2 x 20mm Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) anti-aircraft/cruise missile defense.

AIRCRAFT

65 - 70 modern aircraft of various types including interception, strike, special warfare and helicopters.