Midway Magic

The outset of World War II saw a progression of American aircraft carrier design leading to larger and more heavily armored battle carriers. CVB-41, the lead ship of the Midway-class, was ordered on August 7, 1942. She was the first fleet carrier to have the distinction of being named after a WWII battle. The carrier battle of Midway Island in June 1942 turned the tide of World War II and proved conclusively the potential of naval aviation.

Midway was the lead ship of three 45,000-ton Midway-class CVBs, followed by USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, CVB-42 and USS Coral Sea, CVB-43. Two additional ships were canceled. Midway’s keel was laid on October 27, 1943. Commissioned on September 10, 1945, Midway was the largest warship in the world for the first decade of her service. Her design aircraft compliment was 137. In their early years, the Midway-class carriers were the only ships capable of operating nuclear strike aircraft.

In 1947, she was accompanied by scientific observers as her crew fired a captured German V-2 rocket from the flight deck on September 6, 1947. This test marked the first time such a weapon was fired from a ship at sea or a moving platform. It decisively demonstrated the potential of large rocket fire from surface ships, and arguably marked the beginning of the missile age of naval warfare.

Almost 20 years of service later in 1966, Midway was decommissioned in order to undergo the most extensive and complex modernization ever seen on a naval vessel. This upgrade would take four years to complete, but yielded a much more capable ship and made Midway operationally equivalent to the newest conventionally powered carriers. The flight deck was increased in surface area from 2.82 acres to 4.02 acres. The addition of three new deck-edge elevators could now lift 130,000 pounds compared with 74,000 pounds of her sister ships, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Coral Sea. Two new C-13 catapults on the bow, three new arresting gear engines, and one barricade were installed and rearranged to accommodate a change of 13 degrees to the angle deck. Modern electronic systems were installed, a central chilled water air conditioning system replaced hundreds of individual units, and Midway became the first ship to have the aviation fueling system completely converted from aviation gas to JP-5.

On September 11, 1973, Midway left the United States on one of her most important voyages to date. Arriving in Yokosuka, Japan on October 5, 1973, Midway and Carrier Air Wing Five marked the first forward-deployment of a complete carrier task group in a Japanese port as the result of an accord arrived at on August 31, 1972 between the United States and Japan.

From 1973 to 1991, Midway’s history is hallmarked by Indian Ocean cruises and port calls at some of the most exotic Far East ports. Being America’s first forward deployed ship, Midway remained on the "knife’s edge" of readiness and maintained a highly visible presence in the region in support of U.S. policy. Midway no longer went in for overhauls, rather her upkeep was managed through periods of EISRA (Extended Incremental Ship’s Restricted Availability). These brief periods allowed Midway to be serviced, but also available at any time. In the post-Vietnam era prior to 1990, Midway earned four Battle Efficiency Ribbons, the Navy and Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal, three Armed Forces Expeditionary Medals, the Humanitarian Service Medal and two Meritorious Unit Commendations.

On March 31, 1986, Midway moored to Dry Dock 6 at Yokosuka Naval Base to begin the "most ambitious work package in its 40-year history." EISRA-86 (Extended Incremental Selected Repair Availability) condensed the workload of a major stateside carrier overhaul from the usual 12-14 months, into an eight-month modernization. This included the addition of the catapult flush deck nose gear launch system, the additions of MK7 MOD1 jet blast deflectors, restack and rereeve of arresting gear engines, installation of larger rudders, the addition of new fire main system valves and pumps, new air traffic consoles, a new viable anti-submarine warfare capability, the construction of intermediate maintenance avionics shops to support the F/A-18 aircraft, and the removal of over 47 tons of unusable cable. Blisters were also built and mounted to the sides of Midway. With this monumental task being completed three days ahead of schedule, the first Air Wing Five F/A-18 Hornet trapped aboard Midway on November 28, 1986.

Midway’s last few years in commissioned service would prove to be perhaps her most historic. In 1990, while celebrating 45 years of service, Midway received official announcement on her decommissioning. An announcement in February confirmed that she was scheduled to decommission in 1991. Even with this announcement, Midway continued to maintain her seagoing reputation by being underway more than most other aircraft carriers.

Despite the announced decommissioning, Midway’s role as a potent member of the U.S. Naval forces was again reaffirmed when she departed Yokosuka, Japan on October 2, 1990 in support of Operation DESERT SHIELD, and the subsequent Operation DESERT STORM.

After 43 days of combat, Kuwait had been liberated with a resounding defeat of Iraqi forces. Operation DESERT STORM ended at midnight on February 27, 1991. Midway was the only one of the four carriers operating in the Persian Gulf to lose no aircraft or personnel. Midway departed the Persian Gulf on March 10 and returned to Yokosuka, Japan.

In August 1991, Midway departed Yokosuka, Japan for the last time, heading to the United States for decommissioning after 17 years of forward deployment in Japan. Midway was decommissioned for the last time at North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego, California on April 11, 1992.

Today the USS Midway survives as a museum ship in San Diego California, where she officially opened as the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum on June 07, 2004.

• USS Midway in it’s post 1986 EISRA configuration, specifically during the ship’s 1987-88 Westpac, Indian Ocean deployment.
• CVW-5, Midway’s Japan based airwing from 1973-1991, featuring accurate aircraft modex numbers where applicable.
• E-2C Hawkeye Basic (1978), featuring the APS-125 radar.
• EA-6B ICAP II Block 82 Prowler, featuring appropriate ALQ-99G jamming pod and HARM capability.

• Subscribe to this mod and both F/A-18 mods.
• Enable all three mods in the game’s mod manager.
• Place this mod above the two F/A-18 mods in the manager, followed by Moth’s Legacy Hornet Updated, and the F/A-18C by Cellinia_Texas in descending order.
• Click accept and everything should be ready to go!

• Model source: Original version by: guuruu
• Imported to Sea Power by: Cellinia_Texas
• Subsequent modified versions provided by: maYatOpgUn
• Carrier/Air Wing research and model modifications by: Daggs

• 1988-89, 90-91 texture variants of both the ship and CVW-5, accurately representing each period and deployment over the ship’s last five years in service.
• Implementation of official F/A-18A Hornets, and KA-6D Intruders when added to basegame.

• For the full story, and source of this mod’s description of the Midway’s history: https://www.midwaysailor.com/midway/history.html
• For Information on the Midway’s deployments and air wing complement over the years: http://www.gonavy.jp