USS Midway CV-41. After serving for 47 years, Midway bid farewell to its tour of duty and began to play a different role- to become “a tribute to the contributions of the armed forces”. It is now a floating museum in San Diego and has continued on her final mission as an interactive museum, tribute and education center.
It steamed its way to history from 1945 when it was first commission, to serving as a flagship in Desert Storm in 1991. As such, no other carrier served as long as the USS Midway.
What is more fascinating to a lot of people, especially to the many crew members, is that Midway remained on station when other carriers broke down and headed for port. People have referred to it as almost magical. For the books, the USS Midway was the first aircraft carrier home-ported in a foreign country, in Yokosuka, Japan from 1973 to 1991.
Sailing every ocean in the world, Midway covered more miles than anyone could count. It is believed that more than 200,000 young Americans walked her decks, then gained manhood and fought for their nation’s various wars. These men shared the journey spanning the surrender of Japan in WWII, the Cold War, Vietnam, the era of détente and Desert Storm.
That Midway magic has been a historical fact since no other carrier carries an impressive tradition of diligence, vigilance and mission completion. It still has that magic as replicas in desktop models of the Midway have become bestsellers among Mastercraft Collection''s avid clients.