Throwback some 35 years to November 1989 when the “Fleet’s Finest Carrier,” USS Midway (CV 41) pulled alongside F Berth, Victoria Quay, Freemantle, on a historic visit as the first U.S. Navy carrier to pull pier side in the Western Australian port.
Photo via Fremantle Ports.
Her 5 August to 11 December 1989 West Pacific cruise—her amazing 53rd deployment to the region, which included six combat tours off Vietnam—saw her carry her familiar Carrier Air Wing Five (CVW-5) again, a wing she had deployed with since 1965.
Photo via Fremantle Ports.
This group at the time included three F-18A squadrons (VFA-151, VFA-192, and VFA-195) due to the fact her class was deemed too small for extended F-14 operations, as well as two A-6E/KA-6D Intruder squadrons (VA-115 and VA-185), some EA-6B Prowlers from VAQ-136, a Hawkeye det from VAW-115, and some SH-3H Sea Kings from HS-12.
Photo via Fremantle Ports.
Photo via Fremantle Ports.
Photo via Fremantle Ports.
Midway still had a few tricks left, including Desert Shield/Storm 1990 in the Persian Gulf following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, and the evacuation of Clark AFBase in the Philippines following the eruption of Mount Pinatubo. In that final mission, she brought off 1,823 personnel and dependents, along with a menagerie of 23 cats, 68 dogs, and one lizard.
Decommissioned in San Diego in April 1992 after a 47-year career that included over 325,000 landings, she languished mothballs at Bremerton until 2003, when she was entrusted to the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum.
Opened to the public in June 2004, she has proven extremely popular, clearing over 5 million visitors in her first six years in operation alone.
With JFK consigned to the scrappers, and future CVNs off limits due to their recycling processes, Midway will likely be the largest warship ever preserved (at 64,000 tons and 1,001 feet oal compared to the four preserved 57,000-ton/887-foot Iowas and four preserved Essexes at 40,000-tons/888 feet).