USS Midway Sydney Visit

Midway was decommissioned during February 1966 and entered the Hunters Point Shipyard for the most extensive modernisation ever completed on a naval vessel. After this substantial upgrading, which included significant revamping of much of her equipment, Midway emerged with a greatly enlarged flight deck with an increase in area from 2. 82 acres to 4. 02 acres, and reentered service on 31 January 1971. Other upgradings have occurred since then, the most recent being in 1986 when Midway entered dry dock in Yokosuka for an eight month modernisation to enable her to launch, recover and maintain the USN’s newest fighter/attack aircraft, the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. With a current full displacement of 67,000 tons, length of 1001′ 6″ and width of 258′, Midway is the USN’s oldest and smallest carrier. However because of tho constant refurbishments, she is a very potent vessel and interestingly, is operationally equivalent to the Navy’s newest conventionally powered carriers. Consequently, the Midway is able to launch and recover aircraft % heavier than her sister ship, USS Coral Sea (CV-43).

Over the last 42 years, Midway has served with distinction in many areas with a virtually endless list of different types of aircraft. One of her more unusual exploits was the firing of a V-2 rocket from her flight deck, the first such launch from a ship or a moving platform. Of the 15 aircraft carriers in USN service, Midway is the only such vessel to based be overseas and has been home ported at Yokosuka, Japan since October 1973.

During this current cruise, Midway left Subic Bay on 18 May and participated in exercises with RAN ships HMAS Adelaide, Canberra and Torrens prior to reaching Sydney. Exercises were also held with RAAF Hornets off the Eastern Australian coast.

Australian Aviation visited the Midway off the NSW coast to observe a demonstration of her airpower. After a sedate departure from Sydney on board the ship’s Grumman C-2A Greyhound, the arrival on the Midway via arrester cable with a full stop from flying speed in two seconds was a stirring experience and a fitting prelude to the activity which was to follow.

The skill and professionalism displayed during carrier aviation operations must be close to the pinnacle of what one could expect from any aeronautical endeavour. The slamming launch of F/A-18 Hornets accelerating from O to 150 knots in 1. 7 seconds is indeed a dramatic sight. Likewise the resultant recovery of homeward bound Hornets onto the deck is no less spectacular. With an approach speed of 140 knots, full takeoff power (without afterburner) is applied at point of touchdown in case each of the three arresting cables is missed, and this power setting is only reduced when the aircraft is at a complete stop should an arresting cable snap. The duration of arrest is a mere 1. 5 seconds.

The airspace around the Midway is alive with F/A-18 Hornets and Grumman A-6 Intruders. The noise level on the deck is intense with a landing or takeoff every 40 seconds. In addition to this, many other aircraft make several touch-and-go’s. The youth of the men on board is also a surprise, the average age of the deck teams is19½ years, the Hornet pilots are older at an average 26. The apparent ease with which all the flying operations mesh with skill, safety and speed reflects highly on their training. One Midway man summed it up, “Everything is training, training, training. Anyone can land on a runway, but landing on a deck and at night. . . ” Night landings with a Hornet on a pitching deck when only a few lights are visible to indicate the haven of home are definitely not for the faint-hearted.

During the flying, the ship constantly changes position with surprising agility to ensure a constant 26 knot headwind is available to the aircraft. The only hint of these position changes is a gentle tilt of the deck or a glimpse of the curving wake behind us. Soon all the aircraft return and are safely recovered. A stream of F/A-18s, A-6s, and two Grumman E-2C Hawkeyes have arrived and are parked. The last aircraft to land is a Sikorsky SH-3H which has been on plane guard duty a few hundred metres from the ship. All is now comparatively quiet again and it seems rather an anticlimax after all the choreographed mayhem of the past hour or so.

Despite the completion of flying operations there is still a hive of activity on deck as a multitude of tasks are undertaken. With 61 aircraft on board belonging to Carrier Air Wing Five there is always much to be done. The Air Wing comprises seven Squadrons. Strike Fighter Squadrons VFA 151, 192 and 195 each have 10 F/A-18 Hornets, Attack SquadronVA 115 operates 17 A-6 Intruders and KA-6D tanker versions, Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron VAW 115 has a force of four Grumman E-2C Hawkeyes, the Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron operates four Grumman EA-6B Prowlers, the Helicopter AntiSubmarine Squadron HS-12 has a strength of five Sikorsky SH- 3H Sea Kings and one Grumman C-2A Greyhound is used for COD duties. Blend this assortment of aircraft with the 4600 crew on board and you gain a glimpse of the non-stop activity on board. And this is on the ‘smallest’ of the USN’s carriers !

Departure from the Midway was by the trusty C-2A. The thumping catapult launch from 0-130 knots in just over three seconds is a memorable experience. With a surge forward and upward we leave the deck, there seems a momentary drop as we leave the catapult, then the Allisons are pulling us up away from the Midway and the ocean shrinks beneath us, There is nothing like it!

With the benefit of the succession of refits and upgrades, the Midway is expected to be in service for at least another 5-10 years and possibly even longer. The unique combination of skills and disciplines present on an aircraft carrier is somewhat unusual even in 1987. The enormous cost of operating them has removed them from the inventory of many a navy. Doubtless many ex RAN Fleet Air Arm personnel who saw the Midway did so with a sense of regret, reflecting on the vacuum left by the Melbourne’s withdrawal from service.