USS Midway (CVA-41)
USS Midway sailing through the Western Pacific in November 1974
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Name: | USS Midway |
| Namesake: | Battle of Midway |
| Ordered: | 1 August 1942 |
| Builder: | Newport News Shipbuilding |
| Laid down: | 27 October 1943 |
| Launched: | 20 March 1945 |
| Commissioned: | 10 September 1945 |
| Decommissioned: | 11 April 1992 |
| In service: | 1945 |
| Out of service: | 1992 |
| Struck: | 17 March 1997 |
| Nickname(s): | Midway Magic |
| Status: | Museum ship at the USS Midway Museum in San Diego, California |
| Notes: | Only carrier museum in the United States that is not of the Essex class |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Midway-class aircraft carrier |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 972 ft (296 m) |
| Beam: |
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| Draft: | 34.5 ft (10.5 m) |
| Propulsion: | 12 boilers, four Westinghouse geared turbines |
| Speed: | 33 kn (61 km/h; 38 mph) |
| Complement: | 4,104 officers and men |
| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 137 theoretical, 100 (1940s-50s), 65 (Vietnam-retirement) |
 3D Walkthrough of USS Midway, Virtual Tour |
USS Midway (CVB/CVA/CV-41) was an aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, the lead ship of her class. Commissioned a week after the end of World War II, Midway was the largest ship in the world until 1955, as well as the first U.S. aircraft carrier too big to transit the Panama Canal. A revolutionary hull design, based on the planned Montana-class battleship, gave her better maneuverability than previous carriers. She operated for an unprecedented 47 years, during which time she saw action in the Vietnam War and served as the Persian Gulf flagship in 1991's Operation Desert Storm. Decommissioned in 1992, she is now a museum ship at the USS Midway Museum, in San Diego, California, and the only remaining U.S. aircraft carrier of the World War II era that is not an Essex-class aircraft carrier.
Midway was laid down 27 October 1943 by Newport News Shipbuilding Co., Newport News, Virginia; launched 20 March 1945, sponsored by Mrs. Bradford William Ripley, Jr.; and commissioned on 10 September 1945 (eight days after the Surrender of Japan) with Captain Joseph F. Bolger in command.
After shakedown in the Caribbean, Midway joined the U.S. Atlantic Fleet training schedule, with Norfolk as its homeport. From 20 February 1946, it was the flagship for Carrier Division 1. In March, it tested equipment and techniques for cold-weather operations in the North Atlantic. In September 1947, a captured German V-2 rocket was test-fired from the flight deck in Operation Sandy, the first large-rocket launch from a moving platform, and the only moving-platform launch for a V-2. While the rocket lifted off, it then tilted and broke up at 15,000 feet (4,600 m).
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