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| The Colonel And The Midway |
Displacement 45,000 Tons, Dimensions, 968' (oa) x 113' x 35' (Max)
Armament 18 x 5"/54AA 84 x 40mm, 68 x 20mm, 137 Aircraft.
Armor, 7.6" Belt, 3 1/2" Flight Deck, 2" Deck, 6 1/2" Conning Tower.
Machinery, 212,000; SHP, Geared turbines, 4 screws
Speed, 33 Knots, Crew 4104.
Operational and Building Data
Built by Newport News. Designation changed from CV 41 to CVB 41 15 July 1943.
Laid down 27 Oct 1943, launched 20 Mar 1945, commissioned 10 Sept 1945.
FATE
Replaced as forward deployed carrier by Independence in 1991 and returned to the US for decommissioning. Decommissioned to reserve 11 April 1992; retained as a potential replacement training carrier. Inactivation overhaul included stripping all electronics and weapons systems. Stricken for disposal 17 March 1997.
Acting Secretary of the Navy Hansford T. Johnson announced, 8 July 2003, that this historic ship would be donated to the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum. Donated as a Museum and Memorial (status changed on 29 August 2003).
On 30 September 2003, Midway began her journey from the Navy Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Bremerton, Wash., to San Diego where she would be a Museum and Memorial. She was docked at the Charles P. Howard Terminal in Oakland, Calif., in October, while the construction of her pier in San Diego was completed. The carrier arrived in San Diego in January 2004 and is now the nation's newest Naval Aviation Museum."
From http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/41.htm