From: Dictionary of American Fighting Ships and 
               United States Naval Aviation, 1910-1995, both 
               published by the Naval Historical Center


         The third Midway (CVB-41) was laid down 27 October 
         1943 by Newport News Shipbuilding Co., Newport News, 
         Va.; launched 20 March 1945; sponsored by, Mrs. 
         Bradford William Ripley, Jr.; and commissioned 10 
         September 1945, Capt. Joseph F. Bolger in command.

         After shakedown in the Caribbean, Midway joined in 
         the Atlantic Fleet training schedule, with Norfolk 
         her homeport.From 20 February 1946 she was flagship 
         for CarDiv 1. In March, she tested equipment and 
         techniques for cold weather operations in the North 
         Atlantic. East coast and Caribbean training was 
         highlighted by Operation Sandy, in which in 
         September 1947, she test fired a captured German 
         V-2 rocket from her flight deck, first such 
         launching from a moving platform.

         On 29 October 1947, Midway sailed for the first of 
         her annual deployments with the 6th Fleet, mighty 
         peacekeeping force in the Mediterranean. A powerful
         extension of sea/air power, Midway trained between 
         deployments and received alterations necessary to 
         accommodate heavier aircraft as they were developed.

         From 26 to 29 May 1952, the feasibility of the 
         angled deck concept was demontrated in tests 
         conducted on a simulated angled deck aboard Midway 
         by Naval Air Test Center pilots and Atlantic Fleet 
         pilots in both jet and prop aircraft. Midway also 
         participated in North Sea maneuvers with NATO 
         forces, and on 1 October was redesignated CVA-41. 

         Midway cleared Norfolk 27 December 1954 for a world 
         cruise,sailing via the Cape of Good Hope for Taiwan, 
         where she joined the 7th Fleet on 6 February 1955 
         for operations in the western Pacific. This was the
         first operation of ships of her class in the 
         western Pacific. Midway remained with the 7th Fleet
         until 28 June 1955 when she sailed for overhaul at 
         Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Here, she was out of 
         commission until 30 September 1957, while she was 
         modernized and such new innovations as an enclosed 
         bow and an angled flight deck were installed. 

         Homeported at Alameda, Midway began annual 
         deployments with the 7th Fleet in 1958. On 8 
         December 1958, the first firing of a Sparrow III 
         air-to-air missile by a squadron deployed outside 
         the U.S. was conducted by VF-64, based aboard 
         Midway. The carrier was also on duty in the South 
         China Sea during the Laotian crisis of spring l961.
         During her 1962 deployment, her aircraft tested the
         air defense systems of Japan, Korea, Okinawa, the
         Philippines, and Taiwan. 

         The carrier continued its role as a research and 
         development platform. On 13 June 1963, Lt. Cmdr. 
         Randall K. Billins and Lt. Cmdr. Robert S. Chew Jr.,
         of Naval Air Test Center Patuxent River, Md., 
         piloting an F-4A Phantom II and an F-8D Crusader 
         respectively, made the first fully automatic carrier
         landings with production equipment on board Midway 
         off the California coast. The landings, made "hands
         off" with both flight controls and throttles 
         operated automatically by signals from the ship, 
         highlighted almost 10 years of research and 
         development and followed by almost six years the 
         first such carrier landings made with test equipment.

         When Midway again sailed for the Far East 6 March 
         1965, her aircraft were prepared for combat 
         operations, and from mid-April flew strikes against
         military and logistics installations in North and 
         South Vietnam. On 17 June 1965, while escorting a 
         strike on the barracks at Gen Phu, North Vietnam, 
         Cmdr. Louis C. Page and Lt. Jack E.D. Batson, 
         flying F-4B Phantoms of VF-21, deployed aboard 
         Midway, intercepted four MiG-17s and each shot down
         one, scoring the first U.S. victories over MiGs in 
         Vietnam.

         Returning to Alameda 23 November 1965, she entered 
         San Francisco Bay Naval Shipyard 11 February 1966 
         for extensive modernization, for which she was 
         placed in Reserve, in commission special, 15 
         February 1966. She was recommissioned 31 January 
         1970 following the four-year conversion-modernization
         at the shipyard.

         Midway returned to Vietnam and on 18 May 1971, 
         after relieving USS Hancock (CVA 19) on Yankee 
         Station, began single carrier operations which 
         continued until the end of the month. She departed
         Yankee Station on 5 June, and completed her final 
         line period on 31 October. She returned to her 
         homeport on 6 November.

         Midway, with embarked Carrier Air Wing Five (CVW 5),
         again departed Alameda for operations off Vietnam 
         on 10 April 1972. On 11 May, aircraft from Midway 
         along with those from USS Coral Sea (CV 43), USS 
         Kitty Hawk (CV 63), and USS Constellation(CV 64) 
         continued laying minefield in ports of signicance 
         to the North Vietnamese - Thanh Hoa, Dong Hoi, Vinh,
         Hon Gai, Quang Khe and Cam Pha as well as other 
         approaches to Haiphong. Ships that were in port in 
         Haiphong had been advised that the mining would 
         take place and that the mines would be armed 72 
         hours later. Midway continued Vietnam operations 
         throughout the summer of 1972.

         On 7 August 1972, an HC-7 Det 110 helicopter, flying
         from Midway, and aided by planes from the carrier 
         and USS Saratoga (CV 60), conducted a search and 
         rescue mission for a downed aviator in North Vietnam.
         The pilot of an A-7 aircraft from Saratoga had been
         downed by a surface-to-air missile about 20 miles 
         inland, northwest of Vinh, on 6 August. The HC-7 
         helo flew over mountainous terran to rescue the 
         pilot. The rescue helicopter used its search light 
         to assist in locating the downed aviator and, 
         despite receiving heavy ground fire, was successful
         in retrieving him and returning to an LPD off the 
         coast. This was the deepest penetration of a rescue
         helicopter into North Vietnam since 1968. HC-7 Det 
         110 continued its rescue missions and by the end of
         1972 had successfully accomplished 48 rescues, 35 
         of which were under combat conditions.

         On 5 October 1973, Midway, with CVW 5, put into 
         Yokosuka, Japan, marking the first forward-
         deployment of a complete carrier task group in a 
         Japanese port as the result of an accord arrived at 
         on 31 August 1972 between the U.S. and Japan. In 
         addition to the morale factor of dependents housed
         along with the crew in a foreign port, the move had
         strategic significance because it facilitated 
         continuous positioning of three carriers in the Far 
         East at a time when the economic situation demanded
         the reduction of carriers in the fleet.

         Midway, USS Coral Sea (CVA 43), USS Hancock (CVA 19),
         USS Enterprise (CVAN 65) and USS Okinawa (LPH 3) 
         responded 19 April 1975 to the waters off South 
         Vietnam when North Vietnam overran two-thirds of 
         South Vietnam. Ten days later, Operation Frequent 
         Wind was carried out by U.S. Seventh Fleet forces. 
         Hundreds of U.S. personnel and Vietnamese were 
         evacuated to waiting ships after the fall of Saigon
         to the North Vietnamese. One South Vietnamese pilot
         landed a small aircraft aboard Midway, bringing 
         himself and his family to safety.

         On 21 August 1976, a Navy task force headed by 
         Midway made a show of force off the coast of Korea
         in response to an unprovoked attack on two U.S. 
         Army officers who were killed by North Korean guards
         on 18 August. Midway's response was in support of a
         U.S. demonstration of military concern vis-à-vis 
         North Korea.

         Midway relieved USS Constellation (CV 64) as the 
         Indian Ocean contingency carrier on 16 April 1979.
         Midway and her escort ships continued a significant
         American naval presence in the oil-producing region
         of the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf. On 18 November,
         she arrived in the northern part of the Arabian Sea
         in connection with the continuing hostage crisis in
         Iran. Militant followers of the Ayatollah Khomeini,
         who had come to power following the overthrow of 
         the Shah, seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on 4 
         November and held 63 U.S. citizens hostage. Midway 
         was joined 21 November by USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63), 
         and both carriers, along with their escort ships, 
         were joined by USS Nimitz(CVN 68) and her escorts 
         on 22 January 1980. Midway was relieved by USS 
         Coral Sea (CV 43) on 5 February.

         Following a period in Yokosuka, Midway was again on
         duty, this time relieving USS Coral Sea 30 May 1980
         on standby south of the Cheju-Do Islands in the Sea
         of Japan following the potential of civil unrest in
         the Republic of Korea. On 17 August, Midway relieved
         USS Constellation to begin another Indian Ocean 
         deployment and to complement the USS Dwight D. 
         Eisenhower (CVN 69) task group still on contingency
         duty in the Arabian Sea. Midway spent a total of 118
         days in the Indian Ocean during 1980.

         On 16 March 1981, an A-6 Intruder from VA-115 
         aboard Midway sighted a downed civilian helicopter 
         in the South China Sea. Midway immediately 
         dispatched HC-1 Det 2 helicopters to the scene. All
         17 people aboard the downed helicopter were rescued
         and brought aboard the carrier. The chartered 
         civilian helicopter was also plucked out of the 
         water and lifted to Midway's flight deck.

         Midway continued serving in the western Pacific 
         thoughout the 1980s. On 25 March 1986, the final 
         carrier launching of a Navy fleet F-4S Phantom II 
         took place off Midway during flight operations in 
         the East China Sea. The aircraft was manned by 
         pilot Lt. Alan S. Cosgrove and radar intercept 
         officer Lt. Greg Blankenship of VF-151. Phantoms 
         were being replaced by the new F/A-18 Hornets. 

         On 2 August 1990, Iraq invaded its neighbor Kuwait,
         and U.S. forces moved into Saudi Arabia as part of 
         Operation Desert Shield to protect that country 
         against invasion by Iraq. On 1 November 1990, 
         Midway was again on station in the North Arabian 
         Sea, relieving USS Independence (CV 62). On 15 
         November, she participated in Operation Imminent 
         Thunder, an eight-day combined amphibious landing 
         exercise in northeastern Saudi Arabia which 
         involved about 1,000 U.S. Marines, 16 warships, and 
         more than 1,100 aircraft. Meanwhile, the United 
         Nations set an ultimatum deadline of 15 January 
         1991 for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait.

         President George H.W. Bush addressed the nation on
         16 January 1991 at 9 p.m. EST and announced that 
         the libration of Kuwait from Iraq, Operation Desert
         Storm, had begun. The Navy launched 228 sorties 
         from Midway and USS Ranger (CV 61) in the Persian 
         Gulf, from USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) enroute
         to the Gulf, and from USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67), 
         USS Saratoga(CV 60), and USS America (CV 66) in the
         Red Sea. In addition, the Navy launched more than 
         100 Tomahawk missiles from nine ships in the 
         Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, and the Persian 
         Gulf. At 9 p.m. EST on 27 February, President Bush
         declared Kuwait had been liberated and Operation 
         Desert Storm would end at midnight. Midway departed
         the Persian Gulf 11 March 1991 and returned to 
         Yokosuka. 

         In August 1991, Midway departed Yokosuka and 
         returned to Pearl Harbor. Here, she turned over 
         with USS Independence(CV 62) which was replacing 
         Midway as the forward-deployed carrier in Yokosuka.
         Midway then sailed to San Diego where she was 
         decommissioned at North Island Naval Air Station on 
         11 April 1992. She was stricken from the Navy List 
         on 17 March 1997. 

         On 30 September 2003, Midway began her journey from
         the Navy Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, 
         Bremerton, Wash.,to San Diego where she will be a 
         museum and memorial. She was docked at the Charles
         P. Howard Terminal in Oakland, Calif., during the 
         first week in October while the construction of her
         pier in San Diego was completed. The carrier was 
         towed from Oakland to San Diego, and arrived on 5 
         January 2004. She docked at the Naval Air Station 
         North Island to load historic aircraft for display
         and moved to the Navy Pier on 10 January. She will 
         be part of a major museum devoted to carriers and 
         naval aviation. 

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