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History The CVB-41 class vessels (then unnamed) were originally conceived in 1940 as a design study to determine the effect of including an armored flight deck on a carrier the size of the Essex class. The resulting calculations showed that the effect would be disastrous for air group size. The resulting ship would have a maximum air group of 45, compared to 90100 for the standard Essex class fleet carriers. As a result, the concept went to finding a larger carrier which could support both deck armor and a sufficiently large air group. Unlike the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers, for which the armored deck was part of the ship structure, the Midway class retained their "strength deck" at the hangar deck level and the armored flight deck was part of the superstructure. The weight-savings needed to armor the flight deck was acquired by removing a planned cruiser-caliber battery of 8-inch (203 mm) guns and reducing the 5-inch antiaircraft battery from dual to single mounts. They would be the last USN carriers to be so designed; the titanic size of the Forrestal class supercarriers would require the strength deck to be located at flight deck level. The resulting carriers were very large, with the ability to accommodate more planes than any other carrier in the U.S. fleet (3040 more aircraft than the Essex class). In their original configuration, the Midway class ships had an airwing of almost 130 aircraft. Unfortunately, it was soon realized that so many planes was beyond the effective command and control ability of one ship. While the resulting ships featured excellent protection and unprecedented airwing size, they also had several undesirable characteristics. Internally, the ships were very cramped and crowded. Freeboard was unusually low for such large carriers. In heavy seas, they shipped large amounts of water (only partially mitigated by the fitting of a hurricane bow during the SCB-110/110A upgrades) and corkscrewed in a manner that hampered landing operations. None of the class went on war cruises during the Korean War. They were mainly deployed to the Atlantic and Mediterranean. During the 1950s, all three ships underwent the SCB-110 modernization program, which added angled decks, steam catapults, mirror landing systems, and other modifications that allowed them to operate a new breed of large, heavy naval jets. All three of the Midway class made combat deployments in the Vietnam War. Coral Sea deployed to the Gulf of Tonkin six times, Midway deployed on three occasions, and Franklin D. Roosevelt made one combat deployment before returning to the Mediterranean. In the late 1960s, Midway underwent a massive modernization and reconstruction program, which proved to be so controversial and expensive that it was not repeated on the other ships. By the 1970s, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Coral Sea were showing their age. They retained the F-4 Phantom II in their air wings, being too small to operate the new F-14 Tomcat fleet defense fighter or the S-3 Viking anti-submarine jet. In 1977, Franklin D. Roosevelt was decommissioned. On her final deployment, Roosevelt embarked AV-8 Harrier jump jets to test the concept of including VSTOL aircraft in a carrier air wing. Coral Sea was rescued from imminent decommissioning by the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. Reagan's proposed 600-ship Navy gave the remaining ships a new lease on life. Coral Sea underwent extensive refits to address the ship's poor condition. When the F/A-18 Hornet became operational in the mid-1980s, the Navy quickly deployed them to the Midway and Coral Sea to replace the older F-4s. A 1986 refit for Midway bulged her hull to try to increase freeboard. While successful in this regard, the bulges also resulted in a dangerously fast rolling period that prevented Midway from operating aircraft in heavy seas. The bulging was therefore not repeated on Coral Sea. The Reagan era reprieve could not last indefinitely. In 1990, Coral Sea, which had long since earned the nickname "Ageless Warrior", was decommissioned. Midway had one last war in which to participate, and was one of the six aircraft carriers deployed by the U.S. against Iraq in the Gulf War. A few months after the war, the last of the class left Navy service. Coral Sea was slowly scrapped in Baltimore as legal and environmental troubles continually delayed her fate. She is likely to have been the last large warship ever to be scrapped in North America. One decommissioned supercarrier, America, has been sunk as a target to form an artificial reef, and this is likely to be the fate of their successors. Midway spent five years in the mothball fleet at Bremerton, Washington before being rescued by a museum group. The ship is now open to the public as a museum in San Diego, California. General characteristics As built (1940s) USS Franklin D. Roosevelt CV-42 Displacement: 45,000 tons (stand) Length: 968 ft (295 m) (oa) Beam: 113 ft (34.4 m) at waterline Draft: 33 ft (10.1 m) max Armament: 18 5 in/54 caliber guns, 21 quad 40 mm Bofors gun, 28 20 mm Oerlikon cannon Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h) Power: 212,000 hp (158 MW) Drive: 4 screws; geared turbines Aircraft: 130 (theoretical), 100 (practical) USS Coral Sea, as retired (1991) USS Coral Sea CV-43 Displacement: 65,200 tons full load Length: 1003 feet (305.7 meters) Beam: 236 feet (72 meters) at flight deck Draft: 35 feet (10.7 meters) Armament: 2 Phalanx CIWS Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h) Power: 212,000 hp (158 MW) Drive: 4 screws; geared turbines Aircraft: 65 USS Midway, as retired (1992) Displacement: 69,873 tons full load Length: 976 feet (297.5 meters) Beam: 263.5 feet (80.3 meters) at flight deck Draft: 35 feet (10.7 meters) Armament: 2 8-cell Sea Sparrow launchers, 2 Mark 71 mod 0 Phalanx CIWS Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h) Power: 212,000 hp (158 MW) Drive: 4 screws; geared turbines Aircraft: 75 See also Media related to Midway class aircraft carriers at Wikimedia Commons v d e Midway-class aircraft carrier Midway Franklin D. Roosevelt Coral Sea Preceded by: Essex class Followed by: Forrestal class List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy v d e United States naval ship classes of World War II Aircraft carriers Lexington RangerS Yorktown WaspS Essex MidwayC Light aircraft carriers Independence SaipanC Escort carriers Long Island Bogue Sangamon Charger Casablanca Commencement Bay Battleships Wyoming New York Nevada Pennsylvania New Mexico Tennessee Colorado North Carolina South Dakota Iowa MontanaX Large cruisers Alaska Heavy cruisers Pensacola Northampton Portland New Orleans WichitaS Baltimore Oregon CityC Des MoinesC Light cruisers Omaha Brooklyn St. Louis Atlanta Cleveland FargoC WorcesterC Destroyers Wickes Clemson Farragut Porter Mahan Gridley Bagley Somers Benham Sims Benson Gleaves Fletcher Allen M. Sumner Robert H. Smith Gearing Destroyer escorts Evarts Buckley Cannon Edsall Rudderow John C. Butler Patrol frigates Asheville Tacoma Minesweepers Lapwing Raven Auk EagleS Hawk Admirable Submarines O R S Barracuda ArgonautS Narwhal DolphinS Cachalot Porpoise Salmon Sargo Tambor Mackerel Gato Balao Tench S - Single ship of class C - Completed after the war X - Cancelled Categories: Aircraft carrier classes Midway class aircraft carriers Cold War aircraft carriers of the United States Vietnam War aircraft carriers of the United StatesHidden categories: Articles lacking sources from May 2008 All articles lacking sources I am an expert from highfrequencyups.com, while we provides the quality product, such as rack mount uninterruptible power supply , uninterruptible power systems, online uninterruptible power supply,and more.
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