USS Midway

[NomadOrb]

My wife and I are on vacation celebrating our anniversary and birthdays. We both share the same birthday (tomorrow), and got married on our birthday. I'm a huge history nerd, so of course we had to visit the USS Midway Museum.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that it was one of the best experiences in my life. We explored every nook and cranny that we could and spoke to as many of the yellow hats (volunteers) as we could.

Some of the stories they told will stick with me for a long time. I really appreciated the passion they all brought. We met one who was a 16 year old lady when the evacuation of Saigon was happening, listening to her story of how terrified she was during the evacuation, it was hard not to get emotional.

We also took a guided tour to the Island, which included the flight control and navigation sections of the ship.

I highly recommend visiting the USS Midway if you get the chance. I'll include some of my favorite photos I took today.

 

[ashdigger]

Great photos and Happy Anniversary and Birthdays.

I’ve done the tour three times and still haven’t seen the entire ship.

The sleeping berths in the aisles vs the Captain’s cabin is a great reason to advance in rank.

 

[NomadOrb]

Great photos and Happy Anniversary and Birthdays.

I’ve done the tour three times and still haven’t seen the entire ship.

The sleeping berths in the aisles vs the Captain’s cabin is a great reason to advance in rank.

Thank you!

Man, you're not kidding, the berths were claustrophobic to be sure.

This was the XO's cabin:

 

[Briar Tuck]

Very cool. As a kid I got to tour the Kitty Hawk when it was still in service. Amazing how large those carriers are.

 

[huntertrw]

Here is a link (USS Midway) to the Naval History and Heritage Command's Website for this grand lady. There you will find lots of additional information, including a unique Infographic illustrating the evolution of the aircraft carrier in the United States Navy.

 

[charf]

I did a tour of it while at a conference. I remember them saying if they stood it up vertical it would be the tallest building in town. Lots of vets on board volunteering who were all great people.

 

[huntertrw]

I remember them saying if they stood it up vertical it would be the tallest building in town.

The length of the USS Midway is reported to be 972 feet. This equates to roughly 89.7 stories (approximately the same height as the Comcast Center building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).

 

[kcghost]

Three football fields minus one end zone!!

 

[Zack Miller]

Unfortunately, my experience was a little different.

 

[NomadOrb]

Three football fields minus one end zone!!

4 acre flight deck! Literally a floating city.

 

[kanaia]

I was stationed on the USS Coral Sea for one Westpac and she is the sister ship to the Midway meaning same design. Was also station on Midway Island for 15 months.

 

[Briar Lee]

The trouble with carriers, is they cost about 20 billion to build and arm with planes, and take ten years to replace.

The new ones displace 100,000 tons, and are huge floating airports crammed with planes, fuel, and munitions. It takes a lot to sink one, but if an adversary finds a carrier and hits it with just one missile then the carrier has to do damage control instead of launching and recovering planes.

And if it passes over a submarine like the USS Indianapolis did, it’s bad, very bad.

China's new aircraft carrier killer: Hypersonic missile to take on US warships - World News

China has taken another giant step in launching an anti-ship ballistic missile. PLA Navy launched a YJ-21 hypersonic anti-ship missile from a destroyer.

www.wionews.com

The answer is to reserve carriers to wreck some tin horn dictator’s day, that cannot sink or disable one.

During a war with a peer adversary, the navy would have to keep them hidden in the vastness of the ocean.

Still yet, ain’t they cool?.

 

[Akousticplyr]

China has 2 carriers.
Russia has 1.
(With its own tugboat for when, not if it breaks down and needs a tow to port. )

The US has 11.

We don’t have a peer adversary.

Having said that, every carrier aviator is keenly aware of the lessons learned from WWII through the Falkland Islands and up to today.

Every battle group commander does too.

 

[craiginthecorn]

My daughter worked there as a docent for a couple years when her husband was stationed at Camp Pendleton. She often played the role of Rosie the Riveter. Excellent museum with knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff.

 

[AJL67]

Very cool. The helicopter from the movie Apollo 13 is on the flight deck, i know this because I worked with the guy who flew in it in real life and was in the movie as an extra flying it and across the street is the bar from top gun if you just had to see the bar from top gun.

 

[Briar Lee]

China has 2 carriers.
Russia has 1.
(With its own tugboat for when, not if it breaks down and needs a tow to port. )

The US has 11.

We don’t have a peer adversary.

Having said that, every carrier aviator is keenly aware of the lessons learned from WWII through the Falkland Islands and up to today.

Every battle group commander does too.

The United States Navy has no naval peer.

But thd Ukrainians just put a Russian capital ship on the bottom of the Black Sea using anti ship missiles.

We have 11 carriers, and likely need 30.

If there’s ever a war with a nation capable of putting a carrier at risk, we’ll need more carriers than we have now.

 

[kurtbob]

My grandfather was on the USS Yorktown and Yorktown 2.0 during WWII. He was there for the battle of Midway and Coral Sea. My whole life he never said a word about it until I came home on leave from Korea in the late 80’s. We sat up till 2:00am having some beers with him telling me stories. There was a lot of crying but, made me feel much closer to him. He passed away in early 2000 from a horrible bout with cancer (was everywhere). A couple of years ago, got to take my mom (his 70 year old daughter) to Charleston where the Yorktown is docked to see the ship her father severed on. It was a truly powerful experience for both of us. Truly was the “greatest generation”.

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

Happy Birthdays and Anniversary! My wife and I also got married on the 11th.

 

[Briar Lee]

My grandfather was on the USS Yorktown and Yorktown 2.0 during WWII. He was there for the battle of Midway and Coral Sea. My whole life he never said a word about it until I came home on leave from Korea in the late 80’s. We sat up till 2:00am having some beers with him telling me stories. There was a lot of crying but, made me feel much closer to him. He passed away in early 2000 from a horrible bout with cancer (was everywhere). A couple of years ago, got to take my mom (his 70 year old daughter) to Charleston where the Yorktown is docked to see the ship her father severed on. It was a truly powerful experience for both of us. Truly was the “greatest generation”.

They paid up to 95% income taxes and drafted married men in their forties. Endured rationing at home, and died by the thousands in places like Normandy and Saipan and Iwo Jima they’d never heard of.

Our generation thinks getting vaccinated is tyranny.

Could we stand to lose even one carrier?

We would lose several.

Let’s hope we never know.

 

[Akousticplyr]

The United States Navy has no naval peer.

But thd Ukrainians just put a Russian capital ship on the bottom of the Black Sea using anti ship missiles.

We have 11 carriers, and likely need 30.

If there’s ever a war with a nation capable of putting a carrier at risk, we’ll need more carriers than we have now.

I’ve been in the Navy for 27 years and I’m currently one of the guys who employs adversaries against carrier air wings and battle groups. I do this 5-7 times a year for major exercises.

We’re fine.