Midway class aircraft carrier

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Midway class aircraft carrier
Image:USS Midway.jpg
Class Overview
Class Type	Aircraft Carrier
Class Name	In honor of the 1942 Battle of Midway
Preceded By	Ticonderoga-class aircraft carrier
Succeeded By	United States-class supercarrier, Forrestal-class supercarrier
Ships of the Class:	Midway, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Coral Sea

The Midway class aircraft carrier was one of the longest lived carrier designs in history. First commissioned in late 1945, the lead ship of the class, USS Midway was not decommissioned until 1991, shortly after seeing service in the Gulf War.

The class was originally conceived as the largest aircraft carrier of the era, with the ability to ferry more planes than any other carrier in the US fleet (30-40 more aircraft than the Essex-class). In their original configuration of World War II aircraft, they had an airwing of almost 130 aircraft. Unfortunately, it was soon realized that so many planes was beyond the effective command and control ability of one ship. However, the greater carrying ability of the class made it perfect for the larger and heavier jet fighter planes that started showing up in the 1950's. The Midway class vessels were originally conceived as a thought experiment to determine the effect on air group of an armored flight deck on the tonnage of an Essex-class ship; the resulting math showed that the effect would be disastrous, so instead the concept went to finding a larger carrier which could support both deck armor and a sufficiently large air group. Unlike the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers, however, the Midway-class ships retained their "strength deck" at the hangar deck level; the armored flight deck was instead superstructure.

While the resulting ships featured excellent protection and unprecedented airwing size, they also exhibited several undesirable characteristics. Freeboard was unusually low for such large carriers. In heavy seas, they shipped large amounts of water and cork-screwed in a manner that complicated landing operations. Internally, the ships were very cramped and crowded.

None of the class went on war cruises during the Korean War and were mainly deployed to the Mediterranean. During the 1950's, the ships were fitted with angled decks, steam catapults, and other features that allowed them to operate a new breed of large, heavy naval jets.

All three of the Midway class made combat deployments in the Vietnam War. Coral Sea deployed to the Gulf of Tonkin six times, Midway deployed on three occasions, and Franklin D. Roosevelt made one combat deployment before returning to the Mediterranean.

By the 1970s, the Midway class carriers, particularly Franklin D. Roosevelt and Coral Sea, were showing their age. They retained the F-4 Phantom II in their air wings, being too small to operate the new F-14 Tomcat fleet defense fighter or S-3 Viking anti-submarine jet. In 1977, Franklin D. Roosevelt decommissioned. On her final deployment, Roosevelt embarked AV-8 Harrier jump jets to test the concept of including VSTOL aircraft in a carrier air wing. Coral Sea was rescued from imminent decomissioning by the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. Reagan's proposed 600-ship Navy resulted in the remaining two ships having their service lives extended. When the F/A-18 Hornet became operational in the mid 1980's, the Navy quickly deployed them to the Midway class carriers to replace the older F-4s.

But even this reprieve could not last indefinately. By 1990, Coral Sea, which had long since earned the nickname "Ageless Warrior", was on the list for decommissioning. Midway had one last war to take part in, and was one of the six aircraft carriers deployed by the US against Iraq in the Gulf War. A few months after the war, the last of the class left Navy service.

Coral Sea was slowly scrapped in Balitmore as legal and environmental troubles continually delayed her fate. Midway spent over a decade in the mothball fleet before being rescued by a museum group. The ship is now open to the public as a museum in San Diego California.