The Midway was an aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, named after the Battle of Midway, which was probably the turning point for American naval supremacy during World War II. She was launched in November 1945, after WWII ended, and served in the Vietnam War, Operation Desert Storm, the Mediterranean, humanitarian missions, and many areas around the world until her decommissioning in 1992. Pilots from the Midway scored the first and last air victories of the Vietnam War, and the ship was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for extraordinary heroism during that conflict.
Until the Enterprise class of carriers was launched, the Midway was the largest carrier ever built. Its displacement at commissioning was 45,000 tons, just like that of the ill-fated "Titanic", although the Midway is much longer. Because of several refits and additions, by decommissioning time it displaced 54,000. Over 1000 feet (305m) in length, it was a real floating city, with more than 2,000 compartments, a total fuel capacity of 3½ million gallons, a crew of 4,500, and galleys that served some 13,000 meals daily.
In 2004 Midway was opened to the public as a museum in San Diego, and received almost 880,000 visitors that year. Altogether to date, several million have visited it. This article gives just a glimpse of what is there for the visitor to enjoy
for more detailed information see the Wikipedia article on the Net.
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Midway was commissioned in 1945, the first of three 45,000 ton carriers which...
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Midway class info Worthy of note are the facts that it had a crew of 4,500, and its...
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"formal portrait" The flight deck is outlined by sailors in their whites and officers in their...
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flight deck ...
looking aft from the catapult. In total, the fore-and-aft...
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the island This is the nerve centre of the ship, where information is...
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in the chartroom Radar existed when the Midway was launched, but there were no...
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There is a lot of detailed and interesting information about each of...
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SBD Dauntless Built by Douglas, it was the USNs main dive bomber during WWII, sinking...
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TBM Avenger It was introduced by Grumann, ironically, on 7 Dec 1941 as the...
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Avenger data It was also flown from HMCS Magnificent sixty years ago when I...
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A-1 Skyraider Built by Douglas, it was the successor to the Avenger. More than 3,000 were...
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F-9F Panther This was the Navys first operational jet fighter, and it proved quite...
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F-14 Tomcat This Mach 2.3 capable fighter entered service in 1974. It has...
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F-4 Phantom It entered naval operations in 1960, and was also adopted by the USAF and the...
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