Midway (CVB 41) - Naval Cruise Book

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, 1 lit Inn If ' 5 Jjff ri V As a coral atoll in the I ' ac-ific some 1200 niili-ii nortliwi-st of Hoiioliilii, Mid- way Uland ua.« little knouii prior to World War II. It uai« one of the few remaining Pacific outposts left to oppo.M- the Japanese advance on the Hawaiian Ulandit and the west roast. Near this dot in the Pacific, a small United States Fleet met and defeated a much larjicr force of Japanese -hips in one of the {jreatest naval battles of the «.ir. It was here, loo, that .American .Naval .Aviation and supporting surface units handed the Japane.se .Navy its first decisive defeat in 3.S0 years. Putting an end to the long period of Japanese offensive action, the victory in the Battle of -Midwav restored the balance of naval power in the Pacific campaign. It is con- sidered by many historians as the turning point in the «ar against Japan. The keel of the U.S.S. MIDW A Y ( CVB-41 1 was laid with much fanfare at Newport News. Virginia, on Navy Day. 27 October. 194. ' J. and was launched on 2(1 Maroh I ' M.i. Her sponsor was Mrs. Bradford William- Hipl.-v II. widow of one of the na al pilots lost in tile Battle of Midway. .Also on liand was Lieutenant George Gay. LSNR, the sole sur ivor of the famous Torpedo Squad- ron Eight. Officers and men of the island garrison at the time of the Battle of -Midway presented the carrier with a gift — an electric organ which sings thanksgiving and reverence at all divine worship services. In March 1946, on her post-shakedown cruise, the MIDW .W led a picked group of ships into the icy North .Atlantic for cold weather experimental tests in Operation Frostbite. The MIDW -AY added another first to her record — that of being the first ship from which a V-2 rocket v as fired. W ith the launching of the -2 from the aft end of her flight deck, the feasibility of launching such missile? from ship- board was proved. In the fall of 1949, the MIDW AY again penetrated the far North Atlantic waters while on cold weather maneuvers with the L. S. Second Task Fleet. During this cruise she plowed through heavy seas, up the Davis Straits to cross the Arctic Circle, qualifying her crew for the exclusive Royal Order of Blue Nose. A few statistics: Standard displacement — 15.000 tons. Overall length— 968 feet. Extreme beam — 113 feet.

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: sMe.. MEMORIAM Charles Roger Babcock

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Speed — 33 knots. Complement — 3.500 officer anil men. Armament — 14 five-inch 54 calibre dual purpose fruns. plus three-inch 50 calibre automatic anti-aircraft guns. Aircraft — 100 plus. The MID A is literally a floating city. She has a population of about ' ?500. She ' s compact, hut there are no housing shortages. There is no such thing a.s bedding down on park benches: in fact, that is one of the few things lacking, a park. We don ' t have complicated bus schedules (but after walking tlie hangar and flight deck several times a day you may feel that one should be instituted I. The only traffic jams are those at meal time. e have the corner drug store complete with gedunks and poggy bait ( ice cream and candy i . Our liangai deck can quickly be turned into a huge municipal athletic stadium and our athletic gear locker would put many colleges to shame for completeness. We have a picture show and sometimes even double features. Then there is our church which functions not only on Sundays, but throughout the entire week. We have a bank and a post office and even a newspaper. Our hospital is com- plete with operating rooms, surgical dressing rooms, diathermv and X-ray machines. The IIDW AY S personality consists of the hospitality of the South, the cordiality of the est, the friendliness of the North and the good will of the East. We ' re just sort of cosmopolitan. As an individual, the MIDWAY is BIG. Ninety tons of blue prints were required when she was being built. She weighs in at 45,000 tons dripping wet, but when she ' s ready for a cruise, she ' s in the super-heavyweight class, a hulk- ing 60,000 tons. When she quenches her thirst, she drinks up about 3,000.000 gallons of fuel oil and 365,000 gallons of aviation gasoline. Her arteries are made up of over 260 miles of piping. Her respiratory or ventilation svstem could completely change the air in the Holland Tunnel once every eight minutes. Her nerve system combines over 5000 miles of wiring and cable. Her four power plants produce over 212,000 shaft horse power, which means she could outpull 70 passenger diesel locomotives. She has 1.500 telephones installed — enough to supply a normal city of 3000 people. .And she ' s a trim lady, using over 20,000 gallons of paint during a year just to look pretty. She has endurance, for if she really wanted to, she could cruise around the world without refueling. W hen the MIDVt A feeds her masters, she uses an average of 4200 pounds of potatoes a day. 360 pounds of sugar, 1800 pounds of flour and when we have steak or roast beef, over 2250 pounds are used in one meal. On pie day over 650 pies are baked for one meal. Nine hundred two-pound loaves of bread are b-iked every day. and over 7000 eggs are used when served for breakfast. Excuse us if we are bragging, but we think the Mighty Mid is a big ship — in lots of ways. She ' s also the best in the Navy, which means the best in the world. Doesn ' t it?