Aboard the U.S.S. Midway

The U.S.S. Midway was the first United States Navy aircraft carrier to be commissioned after the end of World War II. This historic aircraft carrier was active in many operations including the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm. The U.S.S. Midway is the only remaining aircraft carrier of the World War II era that is not an Essex-class ship.





In August 1991, Midway departed Yokosuka and returned to Pearl Harbor where Independence replaced Midway as the forward-deployed carrier in Yokosuka. Midway then sailed to San Diego where it was decommissioned at Naval Air Station North Island on April 11th, 1992. In January 2004, the ship was moored at its final location at the Broadway Pier in downtown San Diego and opened to public as a museum later that summer.



There were so many turns and corridors, I would have easily gotten lost if not for the chains blocking off rooms and little yellow arrows pointing the directions to go. Each room filled with machines with hundreds of nobs and buttons controlling the massive aircraft carrier.





It's amazing how small each corridor is. The hallways and doors were so narrow, it's hard to imagine the thousands of men living aboard the ship, running to their stations. Their bunk beds were not much bigger than a baby's crib, served double as their lockers. I'm sure some of the crew wished they were serving above deck or in solitary confinement, unless you were the captain or admiral, of course.