CV-41 Midway, and more

I guess it's up to me to post anything about the ships we saw or the trip to the CV-41 Midway Museum (Kelly wasn't there anyway). These first couple shots were from the harbor boat tour we took. We got to go right by the piers the two aircraft carriers were moored at. In port when we were there were the CVN-68 Nimitz, and the CVN-73 George Washington. Looks like the Nimitz was in for some overhaul or something because there were a lot of cranes on it's deck and a couple trailers you typically see at construction sites. The island was also surrounded by scaffolding. The CVN-73 George Washington was in for repairs. It was in-route to Japan (Yokosuka?) to relieve the Cv-63 Kitty Hawk. However, on the trip a fire broke out in a compartment, and the carrier stopped off at San Diego for repairs. If I recall correctly, a sailor died in the fire.

A Los Angeles Class attack submarine (according to the tour guide), surfaced outside the entrance to San Diego harbor.

Here is a photo of the CVN-68 Nimitz.

The CVN-73 George Washington.

The CV-41 Midway. This is the carrier we toured. It was built in 1945, and originally had a straight deck. Over time, the deck was expanded twice (if I recall correctly) to include the angled deck. The tour guide we had taking us through the island said that because of the added deck which wasn't originally designed for, the Midway had some funny behavior because of being top heavy.

The enlisted berthing. One of the three bunks stacked, and one of those little lockers, that's all you had. The top guy had a little more space since the top of the bunk was open.

The CV-41 Midway's younger brothers, as seen through a forecastle (pronounced focs'le) porthole. I guess prior to one of the overhauls that added the angled deck, the forecastle on the Midway was open to the elements.

Later on in our tour the little audio guide mentioned that head lacerations and injuries were a common sight in the sick bay. Well, no wonder! Look at this nice pointy corner! There were a good number of other "head boppers" throughout the ship. Amazingly, I managed to avoid all of them. This is quite an astonishing feat coming from the guy who typically hits his head on an open cabinet door or something similar once or twice a day.

Grandpa McGarry looks at the wiring on the Midway. Makes your home wiring look rather simple. The wiring looked like this throughout the ship.

The junior officer's quarters. They had it a little nicer. I had a photo of the shower, but it was behind a plexiglass shield and my flash reflected off of it and it was dark and didn't turn out nice. The interesting thing was the shower was just a slightly walled off area against the outside hull. All the pipes (jet fuel, etc.) still ran through and it was almost like it was a second thought to put in the shower. A sign there claimed that the sailors on the Midway often claimed the water from the showers stank of jet fuel.

A good lesson

The brig.

A sign showing how the Midway was updated and changed over the years.

On top of the Midway was a number of different types of aircraft that have flown off it's decks (I think). This one here was a Sea King that actually picked up some of the Apollo capsules.

A view looking aft. Sort of gives a perspective of the size of this ship. Although, I admit it was a little smaller than I thought. Another interesting note (at least for me), the Midway only had two steam catapults on the straight deck. The Nimitz class generally has two more on the angled deck. Maybe the conventional power wouldn't produce enough steam to power two more catapults?

A view of some of all the aircraft on the deck of the Midway (this is the aft side). Taken during our island tour. I'm a little disappointed to find out here that I didn't take a photo of the admiral and captain's rooms. I thought I had. I guess maybe the close quarters didn't allow me to get the entire room or something, I can't remember.

A destroyer coming into port. The DDG-88 USS Preble. An Arleigh-Burke class ship, the same class as the destroyer Kelly's brother is on.

Kelly's brother also took us to the Navy base where most of the non-carrier ships are moored. We saw a couple cruisers, a lot of destroyers, one frigate, some amphibious assault vehicles, and oilers. I didn't take any photos, the large sign out front said not to.

I'd add more, but I think I need to keep in mind the interest/tolerance level of some of the folks who read the blog. Now back to your regular blogger.