Midway (CV 41) - Naval Cruise Book

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l- t ' l -1 -JfJt-lt ' l ' J -J - -- : n- ' 2ss- i 4f f •li; : : tMM- MMM H - c- t-K-K-K-K- t Four ' s F4U ' s aboard. Ports of call in- cluded Istanbul, Cyrprus, Malta, Cannes, Oran, and Lisbon. She re- turned to Norfolk in May and within two months, after exchanging Air Group Four for Seven, she sailed for Gibralter with an upgraded fighter ca- pability. This consisted of two air- craft types, F9F-2 Panthers and F8F-IB Bearcats. During this time, she served as the flag ship of COMCARDIV SIX. She returned to Norfolk in November. For the next six months MIDWAY was in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard hav- ing her flight deck reinforced to ac- commodate heavier aircraft. After conducting brief carrier qualifications, she steamed south for Guantanamo Bay. After these were completed, MIDWAY returned to Norfolk in July. January of 1952 MIDWAY marked her fifth Mediterranean cruise. Four full squadrons, along with detachments from four other squadrons, comprised the airwing. During this cruise MID- WAY participated in Operation Grand Slam (a multi-national English, French, Italian and U.S. exercise). Upon com- pletion of this exercise, she operated in the eastern Mediterranean before returning to Norfolk in May 1952. In August 1952, MIDWAY departed Norfolk for NATO exercises in the North Sea. This was a combined exer- cise with USS FRANKLIN D. ROOSE- VELT, USS WASP, and USS WISCON- SIN. On October I, on her return to Norfolk. MIDWAY departed on her sixth Med cruise in December of 1952. With the basic composition of the air group unchanged. MIDWAY participat- ed in Operation Rendezvous. She was the flag ship of Carrier Division Four. Returning home to Norfolk in May. she entered a five month overhaul. In January 1954. MIDWAY deployed to the Med for the seventh time. This time Air Group Six Departed with two Cougar Squadrons and one Banshee unit, returning to Norfolk in August of 1954. MIDWAY departed Norfolk in De- cember 1954 making a world cruise which culminated in her transfer to the Pacific Fleet. She now became the flagship of COMCARDIV THREE and operated off the Philippine Islands and Japan. Leaving Japan. MIDWAY re- turned to NAS Alameda in July 1955. Three months later she entered Puget Sound Naval Ship-Yard and was de- commissioned. In order to accomadate the new high techology aircraft. MIDWAY un- derwent a modernization project. She was fitted with two steam catapults on the bow and a third shorter steam cat in the new angle deck. The purpose of the third catapult was to allow ready

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MIDWAY MAGIC IS BORN!! The outset of World War II saw a progres- sion of American aircraft carrier design leading to larger and more heavily armored battle carriers. CVB-41, the lead ship of this class, was ordered on August 7. 1942. She was the first carrier to have the distinction of being named after a battle. She was also the third ship to bear the name MIDWAY. The keel of USS MIDWAY was laid in grav- ing dock at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company on October 27. 1943. Launched on March 20, 1945, she was the largest warship in the world for the first decade of her service. Every aspect of her construction included the most modern de- During the years 1958-59 MIDWAYS primary defense was multiple 3 inch Caliber gun mounts. sign innovations possible. Twelve Babcock and Wilcox boilers powered four Westinghouse geared turbins which developed 212,000 horse-power for a maxi- mum speed of 33 knots. She was designed with two catapults, fourteen arresting cables, and six barriers, her design aircraft com- plement was 37. Commissioned on September 10, 1945 at the Norfolk Naval Ship- yard, MIDWAY got underway for the first time on October 12, 1945. On her first operational assign- ment from March I thru 28, 1946. she operated in the Labrador Sea and Davis Straights. MIDWAY conducted a cold-weather evalu- ation of aircraft, personnel, and the ship. Helicopter air-sea tech- niques were refined and the infa- mous poopy suit was evaluat- ed. Midway conducted flight and refueling operations during these tests despite heavy weather damage to elevator and hanger doors; and despite two to four inches of snow on the flight deck at various times. In the autumn of 1947, while op- erating her recently redesignat- ed Battle Group CVBG-I. MID- WAY fired a captured German V- 2 rocket from its flight deck. Thus, she decisively demonstrat- ed the potential of large rocket fire from surface ships. In Octo- ber of 1947, MIDWAY made her first deployment to the Mediter- ranean. Her air group was CVBG- I, made up of two fighter squad- rons which flew F4U-Bs, and two attack squadrons operating AD- I ' s. The deployment concluded in Norfolk in March of 1948. A re- turn trip to the Med was made from January to March 1949. This time two Marine fighter squad- rons were aboard. This cruise was hall-marked when CDR F. L. Ashworth flew a P2V-3 from Mid- way off the coast of Norfolk, to the Panama Canal, then over Cor- pus Christi. Texas, and on to San Diego, California. CDR Ash- workth completed this 4.800 mile non-stop in 25 hours and 40 min- utes. Midway departed Norfolk in October 1949 once again bound for cold weather operations. She operated north of the Artie Cir- cle and returned to Norfolk three days before Christmas. MIDWAY deployed to the Mediterranean for a third time in January 1950 with Air Group ■Tkik ik ' ik-ik-ik-ik-i ik-Tk ' yk '

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FIRST AIR ' TRAP MIDWAY ' S second look. The MAGIC lakes shape The first ■Dirigible lands aboard MIDWAY in early 1946. jusl one of many MIDWAY firsts. deck launches while keeping the landing area clear for recoveries in an alert situation. Additional improvements included the in- stallation of a hurricane (enclosed) bow. moving elevator number three to the starboard deck edge aft of the island, and enlarging number one elevator to accommodate longer aircraft. On recom- missioning in September 1957. MIDWAY ' S load displacement had grown from 55.CXX to 62.000 tons. MIDWAY again got underway in December heading south for shakedown and refresher training. In August 1958. MIDWAY em- barked on her first deployment as an angle deck carrier. With MIDWAY ' S increased capabilities. CVG-2 was composed of two supersonic fighter squadrons and three attack squadrons. During this cruise she operated off of Taiwan in support of the Quemoy- Matsu Crisis as the flagship of COMCARDIV FIVE. She arrived in Alameda in March of 1959. In August 1959. after a one month turn around period. MIDWAY redeployed to the Far East. During this cruise she recorded 8.000 landings, including her 80.000th arrested landing. Her eleventh deployment ended when she arrived at Alemeda in March I960. After an extensive five month overhaul, MIDWAY left Alameda in Febuary 1961. With Air Group Two aboard, she participated in operations off the coast of Vietnam, returning to Alameda in September of 1961. After a regular overhaul extending until April 1963, the first fully automatic carrier landings were made aboard MIDWAY. June 13. 1963. saw an F-4E Phantom make the first hands-off landing follow- ing 16 years of research and testing. MIDWAY made her fourteenth (sixth straight) WESTPAC de- ployment in November 1963. Her most significant improvement was increased jet fighter capacity with the addition of Mach 2.3F- 4B phantom ll ' s. She returned to Alameda in May 1964 to replace Number 3 elevator which had been carried away during heavy seas. MIDWAY was decommissioned in February 1966 at Hunter ' s Point. The modernization of MIDWAY would prove to be complex, taking four years to complete, yet yielding a more capable and useful ship. The flight deck was increased in surface area from