We made a day trip to San Diego, CA from Yuma, AZ to visit the USS Midway Museum. What an awesome experience!!!!
The aircraft carrier, USS Midway, was commissioned in 1945 as the largest ship in the world, the first ship too large for the Panama Canal and she was decommissioned in 1992 in San Diego, CA. Opened to the public as a museum in 2004.
A few statistics: weight is 69,000 tons, 212,000 horsepower, flight deck is 4.02 acres, 1001 feet long, and she is 258 feet wide. Over 225,000 have served aboard during WW II, Korean War, Vietnam, and Persian Gulf. In 1975 she lead the evacuation of Saigon and rescued 3,073 refugees in 2 days and in 1991 rescued 1,800 Americans fleeing the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo.
It was the first carrier homeported in a foreign country, calling Yokosuka, Japan home for 18 years.
Those passageways and stairs are a lot narrower now than when we were young and spry.
A-4 Skyhawk
A-1 Skyraider (wings folded)
View of the flight deck from Flight Deck Control (Prifly)
H-46 Sea Knight ….Bill crewed on this model helicopter during
his 20 years in the Navy.
He served as Search and Rescue, ship to ship replenishment among his other duties.
Sitting in the pilot’s seat brought back a lot of memories.
View of the USS Nimitz from the hanger deck of the USS Midway
Proudly she waves…….!!
Huge sculpture at the Maritime Museum depicting the famous Life Magazine cover “The War Is Over…!!”
For more info on aircraft carriers check out the following links:
http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/carriers/histories/cv41-midway/cv41-midway.html
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