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_steaming_off_the_Firth_of_Clyde_in_September_1952.jpg) USSMidway beforeSCB-110 upgrade | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Midway class |
| Builders | |
| Operators |  United States Navy |
| Preceded by | Essex class |
| Succeeded by | Forrestal class |
| Subclasses | USS Coral Sea |
| Built | 27 October 1943 – 2 April 1946 |
| In commission | 10 September 1945 – 11 April 1992 |
| Planned | 6 |
| Completed | 3 |
| Cancelled | 3 |
| Retired | 3 |
| Preserved | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Aircraft carrier |
| Displacement | |
| Length |
|
| Beam |
|
| Draft | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Installed power | 12 Babcock and Wilcox boilers |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 33knots (61 km/h; 38 mph) |
| Complement | 4,104 |
| Sensors & processing systems |
|
| Electronic warfare & decoys |
|
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
| Aircraft carried | Up to 130 (1940s–50s), 65–70 (1980s) |
| Aviation facilities |
|
_after_refit_1969.jpeg)
TheMidway class was aclass of threeUnited States Navyaircraft carriers. Thelead ship,USS Midway, wascommissioned in September 1945 anddecommissioned in 1992.USS Franklin D. Roosevelt was commissioned in October 1945, and taken out of service in 1977.[2]USS Coral Sea was commissioned in April 1947, and decommissioned in 1990.[3]
TheCVB-41-class vessels (then unnamed) were originally conceived in 1940 as a design study to determine the effect of including anarmored flight deck on a carrier the size of theEssex class. The resulting calculations showed that the effect would be a reduction of air group size—the resulting ship would have an air group of 64,[4] compared to 90–100[5][6] for the standardEssex-class fleet carriers. As it progressed, the design also became heavily influenced by the wartime experience of theRoyal Navy's armored carriers:
As a result of study of damage sustained by various British carriers prior to our entry into the war, two important departures from traditional U.S. Navy carrier design were incorporated in the CVB Class, then still under development.HMS Illustrious in an action offMalta on 1 January 1941 was hit by several bombs, three of which detonated in the hangar space. Large fires swept fore and aft among parked planes thereby demonstrating the desirability of attempting to confine the limits of such explosions and fires by structural sectionalization of the hangar space. On the CVB Class the hangar was therefore divided into five compartments separated by 40 and 50-poundSpecial Treatment Steel (STS)[7] division bulkheads extending from the hangar deck to the flight deck, each fitted with a large door suitable for handling aircraft. It is hoped that this sectionalization, in conjunction with sprinkler and fog foam systems, will effectively prevent fires from spreading throughout the hangar spaces, as occurred onUSS Franklin on 30 October and 19 March. The damage experiences of several British carriers, which unlike US Carriers were fitted with armored flight decks, demonstrated the effectiveness of such armor in shielding hangar spaces from GP bombs and vital spaces below the hangar deck from semi-armor-piercing (SAP) bombs. Accordingly, the CVB Class was designed with an armored flight deck consisting of 3-1/2-inch STS from frames 46 to 175 with a hangar deck consisting of two courses of 40-pound STS between frames 36 and 192. Although none of the CVB Class carriers were completed in time to take part in war operations, the effectiveness of armored flight decks against Kamikaze attacks was demonstrated by various carriers attached to theBritish Pacific Fleet ...
— [8]
The concept went to finding a larger carrier that could support both deck armor and a sufficiently large air group. The weight-savings needed to armor the flight deck were achieved by removing the planned cruiser-caliber battery of 8-inch (203 mm) guns and reducing the 5-inch antiaircraft battery from dual to single mounts. Unlike the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers, for which the armored deck was part of the ship structure, theMidway class retained their "strength deck" at the hangar deck level and the armored flight deck was part of thesuperstructure. They would be the last USN carriers to be so designed; the immense size of the succeedingForrestal-classsupercarriers would require a new deep-hulled design carrying the strength deck at the flight deck level to produce a stronger and lighter hull.
The heavily subdivided arrangement of the machinery spaces was based on that of theMontana-classbattleship, while the two inner propeller shafts were partially enclosed in skegs, similar to contemporary battleship construction.[9] While theEssex-class carriers had eight main engineering compartments, theMidway-class had 26, including twelve boiler rooms well off the centerline and four widely separated engine rooms. More extensive use of electric arc-welding than in previous warships reduced the weight by about 10 percent of what would have been required for riveted structural assembly.[10]
The resultingMidway-class carriers were very large, with the ability to accommodate more planes than any other carrier in the U.S. fleet (30–40 more aircraft than theEssex class). In their original configuration, theMidway-class ships had an airwing of up to 130 aircraft. It was soon realized that the coordination of so many planes was beyond the effectivecommand and control ability of one ship.[why?] However, their size did allow these ships to more easily accommodate the rapid growth in aircraft size and weight that took place in the early jet age. The forward flight deck was designed for launching 13-ton aircraft; and the aft flight deck was designed for landing 11-ton aircraft, assuming in-flight expenditure of fuel and ordnance.[10]
While the resulting ships featured excellent protection and unprecedented airwing size, they also had several undesirable characteristics. Internally, the ships were very cramped and crowded.Freeboard was unusually low for such large carriers; in heavy seas, they shipped large amounts of water[10] (only partially mitigated by the fitting of a hurricane bow during the SCB-110/110A upgrades) and corkscrewed in a manner that hampered landing operations. The follow-upForrestal-class featured a deeper hull that had more freeboard and better seakeeping.
In contrast with the earlierLexington,Yorktown andEssex-classes, the beam (width) of theMidway-class carriers meant that they could not pass through thePanama Canal.
Although they were intended to augment the US Pacific fleet during World War II, the lead ship of the class,Midway, was not commissioned until 10 September 1945, eight days after thesurrender of Japan.[10]
WhileMidway andCoral Sea followed the US Navy's policy of naming aircraft carriers after battles (twoCasablanca-classescort carriers gave up their names for the larger ships), USSFranklin D. Roosevelt inaugurated the policy of naming aircraft carriers after former US Presidents that the US Navy generally follows today.
None of the class went on war cruises during theKorean War. As the three ships became essential to the Navy's strategic nuclear weapons role in Europe, they were mainly deployed to theAtlantic andMediterranean. Until the availability of theForrestal class, they were the premier commands sought by senior naval aviators. They were "admiral makers" for many of their commanding officers including futureChief of Naval OperationsGeorge Whelan Anderson Jr. andDavid L. McDonald.
During the 1950s,Midway andFranklin D. Roosevelt underwent theSCB-110 modernization program (similar toSCB-125 for theEssex class), which addedangled flight decks,steam catapults, mirror landing systems, and other modifications that allowed them to operate a new generation of larger and heavier naval aircraft.Coral Sea had a variant modernization program called SCB-110A with an angled deck 3 degrees greater than the other two.[10][11]
All three of theMidway class made combat deployments in theVietnam War.Coral Sea deployed to theGulf of Tonkin six times,Midway deployed on three occasions, andFranklin D. Roosevelt made one combat deployment before returning to the Mediterranean.
In the late 1960s,Midway underwent an extensive modernization and reconstruction program under SCB 101.66, which proved to be controversial and expensive and thus was not repeated on the other ships. While $82 million had been budgeted for the modernization, the actual cost was $202 million, in comparison to $277 million for simultaneous construction of the brand-newUSS John F. Kennedy.[10]
Roosevelt instead received an austere $46 million refit (SCB 103.68), enabling her to operate the GrummanA-6 Intruder and LTVA-7 Corsair II. In July 1968,Roosevelt enteredNorfolk Naval Shipyard for her 11-month modernization program. The forward centerline elevator was relocated to the starboard deck edge forward of the island, the port waist catapult was removed, the crew spaces were refurbished, and all of the four remaining 5-inch (127 mm) anti-aircraft turrets were removed.Roosevelt set sail with 4 - 5" guns, 2 on either side controlled by 3 Mk 56 Gunfire control systems and one Mk 37 System.Roosevelt also received a deck edge spray system using the new seawater compatible fire-fighting chemical, Light Water. She put to sea again on 26 May 1969.
By the 1970s,Franklin D. Roosevelt andCoral Sea were showing their age. All three retained theMcDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II in their air wings, being too small to operate the newGrumman F-14 Tomcat fleet defense fighter or theS-3 Viking anti-submarine jet. In 1977,Franklin D. Roosevelt was decommissioned as she was the least modernized and in poor condition compared to the others in her class. On her final deployment,Roosevelt embarkedAV-8 Harrier jump jets to test the concept of includingVSTOL aircraft in a carrier air wing.
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Coral Sea was rescued from imminent decommissioning by the election ofRonald Reagan as president of the United States in 1980. Reagan's proposed600-ship Navy gave the remaining ships a new lease on life.Coral Sea underwent extensive refits to address the ship's poor condition.
When theMcDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet became operational in the mid-1980s, the Navy quickly deployed them to theMidway andCoral Sea to replace the older F-4s. On 15 April 1986, aircraft fromCoral Sea, as well as USAFF-111Fs fromRAF Lakenheath in the UK, struck targets in Libya as part of "Operation El Dorado Canyon". The Hornets went into action for the first time, flying several ship-to-shore air strikes against Libyan shore installations that were harassing the fleet. During this action, the Hornets fromCoral Sea attacked and destroyed the SA-5 missile site atSirte which had been "painting" US aircraft with its radars. This was the combat debut for the Hornet, and incidentally marked the first combat use of theAGM-88 HARManti-radiation missile. The Hornets attacked the SAM sites in bad weather and at wave top heights. All of them returned without mishap.
A 1986 refit forMidway removed her 6" armor belt and bulged her hull to try to increase freeboard. While successful in this regard, the bulges also resulted in a dangerously fast rolling period that preventedMidway from operating aircraft in heavy seas. The bulging was therefore not repeated onCoral Sea.
TheReagan era reprieve could not last. In 1990,Coral Sea, which had long since earned the nickname "Ageless Warrior", was decommissioned.Midway had one last war in which to participate, and was one of the six aircraft carriers deployed by the U.S. against Iraq duringOperation Desert Storm.[12] A few months after the campaign,Midway was decommissioned.
Coral Sea was slowly scrapped at Baltimore as legal and environmental troubles continually delayed her fate.Midway spent five years in the mothball fleet atBremerton, Washington before being taken over by a museum group. The ship is now open to the public at theUSSMidway Museum inSan Diego, California.
| Name | Hull no. | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Decommissioned | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Midway | CV-41 CVB-41 CVA-41 | Newport News Shipbuilding and Dockyard Co.,Newport News | 27 October 1943 | 20 March 1945 | 10 September 1945 | 11 April 1992 | Museum ship atSan Diego |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt (ex-Coral Sea) | CV-42 CVB-42 CVA-42 | New York Naval Shipyard,New York City | 1 December 1943 | 29 April 1945 | 27 October 1945 | 30 September 1977 | Broken up atKearny, 1978 |
| Coral Sea | CV-43 CVB-43 CVA-43 | Newport News Shipbuilding and Dockyard Co.,Newport News | 10 July 1944 | 2 April 1946 | 1 October 1947 | 26 April 1990 | Broken up atBaltimore, 2000 |
| unnamed | CV-44 | Cancelled 11 January 1943 | |||||
| unnamed | CVB-56 | Cancelled 28 March 1945 | |||||
| unnamed | CVB-57 | ||||||
