It opened as the USS Midway Museum in June 2004. On Apthe Midway was decommissioned in San Diego and remained in storage in Bremerton, Washington until 2003 when it was donated to the 501(c)3 nonprofit San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum organization. Its final mission was the evacuation of civilian personnel from Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines after the20th century’s largest eruption of nearby Mount Pinatubo. In the ensuing Operation Desert Storm, Midway served as the flagship for naval air forces in the Gulf and launched more than 3,000 combat missions with no losses. In 1990 Midway deployed to the Persian Gulf in response to the Iraqi seizure of Kuwait. S.-based carriers, Midway transferred to Yokosuka, Japan, making it the first American carrier home ported abroad. Over a chaotic two day period during the fall of Saigon in April 1975, Midway was a floating base for large Air Force helicopters which evacuated more than 3,000 desperate refugees during Operation Frequent Wind.Īs potential threats to the Arabian oil supply grew, and to relieve strain on U. In 1966 Midway was decommissioned for a four-year overhaul. However, 17 Midway aircraft were lost to enemy fire during this cruise. Midway aircraft shot down three MiGs, including the first air kill of the war. Midway’s first combat deployment came in 1965 flying strikes against North Vietnam. A round-the-world cruise took Midway to the west coast in 1955, where it was rebuilt with an angled deck to improve jet operations. Midway served with the Atlantic Fleet for ten years, making seven deployments to European waters, patrolling “the soft underbelly” of NATO. Just two years after that, Midway sent a large patrol plane aloft to demonstrate that atomic bombs could be delivered by a carrier. The trial’s success became the dawn of naval missile warfare. The following year Midway became the only ship to launch a captured German V-2 rocket. In 1946 it became the first American carrier to operate in the midwinter sub-Arctic, developing new flight deck procedures. American industry provided almost two-thirds. Midway was the first in a three-ship class of large carriers that featured an armored flight deck and a powerful air group of 120 planes.įrom the beginning of its service, the Midway played key roles in the Cold War. In the three years following the Battle of Midway, the Japanese built six aircraft carriers. Named after the climactic Battle of Midway of June 1942, Midway was built in only 17 months, but missed World War II by one week when commissioned on September 10, 1945. Sadly most of the aircraft were destroyed by bombing attacks soon after landing on the 20th. Escort was provided by battlecruiser 'Renown', cruisers 'Cairo' and 'Charybdis' and six destroyers including two American. The USS Midway was the longest-serving aircraft carrier in the 20th century. Malta - President Roosevelt lent US carrier 'Wasp' to ferry nearly 50 Spitfires to the Island.
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