Historical Summary
“Midway Magic” is a historical fact. It was a term known throughout the Navy as the USS Midway steamed through a 47-year career of service to country. Imagine, a carrier that was commissioned in 1945 and served as a flagship in Desert Storm in 1991. No other carrier served as long as the USS Midway.
Time and again, the USS Midway remained on station when other carriers broke down and headed for port. It was almost magical how the crew and carrier responded to every call—both military and humanitarian.
The USS Midway set new standards of naval aviation in the latter half of the 20th century. A captured German V-2 rocket was launched off the USS Midway in 1946—the dawn of naval missile warfare. The USS Midway blazed new trails of sub-Arctic air operations off the coast of Greenland. It was the first carrier homeported in a foreign country, calling Yokosuka, Japan home for 18 years. When others came home, the USS Midway remained at the “tip of the sword” on an odyssey shared by 200,000 Americans that spanned the surrender of Japan in WWII, the Cold War, Vietnam, the era of détente and Desert Storm.
No other carrier carries such a proud—many say “magical”—tradition of diligence, vigilance and mission completion. Midway Magic was real. And it continues today as the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum located at 910 N. Harbor Drive, alongside Navy Pier.
Museum Overview
Experience Midway Magic aboard the nation's newest naval aviation museum, the U.S.S. Midway.
Located on San Diego Bay in downtown San Diego at Navy Pier, Midway provides a dynamic and enriching experience as guests take a look back at the history of America's longest serving Aircraft Carrier. A visit to Midway will instill a greater appreciation for naval aviation, service to country and sacrifice. Guests are invited to share in the 47 year odyssey that began in 1945 when Midway was commissioned as the largest ship in the world, and ended in 1992 with the liberation of Kuwait.
Features include :
- Handicapped access from Navy Pier to the hangar deck and up to the flight deck
- Self-guided audio tour with admission
- More than 35 exhibits and displays
- Access to the mess deck, berthing spaces, hangar deck, flight deck and island superstructure
- Mach Combat F-8 and F-4 phantom flight simulators and flight stations
- Flight Avionics motion simulators
- Interactive, story-telling docents, many of them Midway veterans
- 15 restored aircraft, with more than on the way
- The Jet Shop gift shop
- The Fantail Café
General Contact Information
The San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum is located aboard the historic USS Midway aircraft carrier, alongside Navy Pier in downtown San Diego.
910 N. Harbor Drive
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 544-9600
FAX (619) 544-9188
www.midway.org
