Midway Arrival Date Set

[Eagle3]

From Scott McGaugh of the SDACM:

"Just learned Midway is scheduled to arrive in San Diego on or about January 2 !!!! ... First to NAS North Island to retrim the ship and take on restored aircraft. Then over to her permanent berth at Navy Pier on January 10. Big community event on the pier, and for contributors at the Captain's level or higher, they can ride Midway across San Diego Bay on the 10th. Details to be posted on the web site. (www.midway.org)"

[dylumph]

Thanks Buzz ! Great news! I live in N.C. and I have got to see her one more time. I hope next year we can all have that chance. We're pretty lucky to have that to look foward to. Most old sailors don't get that chance.
I plan on taking my dad who sailed with the Midway on a DE in 45 or whenever her shakedown cruise was. We plan on driving cross country together. Hes almost 80 and we've been antisapating this for about 5 years now.

[ttprince]

TEMPORARY DELAY

As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle:

Aircraft carrier setting sail for San Diego and its new life as a floating museum

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/12/29/BAGOP3VPG51.DTL

by Rick DelVecchio, Chronicle Staff Writer

A handful of volunteers at the Oakland waterfront scurried from fore to aft on the Midway Sunday as they readied the storied aircraft carrier for its new life as California's latest floating naval history museum.

The 1,000-foot long Midway was scheduled to leave Oakland under tow at about 9:30 a.m. today, passing between Alcatraz Island and Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco before clearing the Golden Gate on its way to its final home in San Diego.

Its scheduled departure Sunday was postponed after a tugboat developed mechanical problems. The delay thrust retired Navy Cmdr. Pete Clayton, who led the ship's restoration effort, and a small crew of volunteers into the role of deckhands.

They worked fast to tie up the giant ship before aexpected Pacific storm could cause any trouble.

"I was a propulsion engineer for 30 years, not a deck mate," Clayton said as he muddied his clothes wrestling three-inch-thick lines in the ship's forecastle.

Clayton, who served as chief engineer on the carrier Ranger during the first Gulf War, stuck his head through an opening in the deck to guide the last line to its handlers on the dock 45 feet below. An older gent working on the crew paused to take a flash photo of the darkened space, where sailors served from 1945 to 1992 in three wars and numerous peacetime missions involving the projection of American power abroad.

The Midway is a product of World War II and the greatest generation, Clayton said.

"At the time it was built, it was the largest ship in the world," he said. "It's a piece of America."

The Midway is scheduled to arrive at North Island in San Diego on Jan. 3. It will remain there a week, taking on restored aircraft from the 1960s and 1970s.

On Jan. 10, it will cross San Diego Bay to its final destination at Navy Pier, at the foot of the city's revitalized downtown.

Organizers hope to open the Midway for daily admission in late spring and hold a public celebration in early June to mark the anniversary of the Battle of Midway, which crushed Japan's naval power in World War II.

San Diego promoters, led by entrepreneur Alan Uke, have been working on landing the Midway as a museum almost since the Navy decommissioned the ship in 1992.

It took a nonprofit corporation more than 10 years to complete the paperwork needed to gain custody of the ship, which was moldering in Puget Sound.

Five months ago, the ship was towed to Oakland to complete its $6.5 million renovation.

The Midway will become the 12th naval ship to serve as a floating museum in California and the second aircraft carrier.

The Hornet museum has been open in Alameda since 1998.

More than half again as heavy as the Hornet, the Midway was the namesake for the last class of carriers developed during World War II. Japan surrendered before the Midway went on active duty, but the ship served three tours during the Vietnam War and led the air bombardment of Iraq during the first Gulf War.

The Midway was based in Alameda from 1958 through the Vietnam War.

It was later home ported in Japan, and one of its main tasks was showing American force in the Far East.

"Midway stood right in the crosscurrent of almost every international crisis or situation in the latter half of the 20th century," said Scott McGaugh, spokesman for the museum group.

McGaugh has interviewed more than 300 Midway veterans for a book on the ship and has turned up some little-known asides in naval history. In 1946, for example, the ship secretly fired one of Hitler's V-2 rockets and proved that missiles could be launched at sea.

Navy veteran Wayne Boykin of Pacifica worked on the Midway as a civilian shipyard worker at Hunter's Point and Alameda. He recalled with pride how his crew was flown to the Middle East to repair a faulty catapult mechanism on the Midway and completed the job in 25 hours. If the new custodians of the Midway plan to fix the catapult, Boykin said he wants to be part of it.

"We had a great crew in Alameda," he said. "Everyone just busted their butts to get the job done."

[ttprince]

From : Riley Mixson <midwayinsd@aol.com>
Reply-To : <midwayinsd@aol.com>
Sent : Monday, December 29, 2003 10:19 PM

Subject : USS Midway Arrival Information

www.midway.org

Midway remains berthed in Oakland, California--but hopefully only for a day or two longer. Severe weather in parts of Northern California has closed parts of I-5 and brought heavy rain fall to the Bay Area, thereby delaying our departure. Hopes are to get Midway underway on Wednesday for an arrival at NAS North Island either this weekend or on Monday. Keep a bookmark on our website and check back for regular updates on Midway's voyage home. We'll announce a more specific arrival date as soon as we get the word.

During her brief stay at North Island we'll load aboard our A-7B, A-6E, and E-2C. She'll also be ballasted for berthing at Navy Pier.

A welcoming festival on Navy Pier is scheduled for January 10, 2004, from 11:00 AM- 3:00 PM. The pier side event will include displays, music, food & fun for all ages. We invite everyone to come out and enjoy the arrival of Midway. (For more information on San Diego'a Embarcadero www.thebigbay.com )

We thank you for your ongoing support of our effort to bring Midway home to San Diego and look forward to welcoming you aboard in the months ahead.

Happy New Year!

Riley Mixson
San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum
1355 North Harbor Drive
San Diego, CA 92101

SDACM@aol.com
(619) 702-7700
www.midway.org
Click here: USS Midway

[ttprince]

From: Midway Museum (http://www.midway.org)

Midway left Oakland on Dec. 31 at 12 noon! Tentative plans call for Midway arriving at Ballast Point off San Diego on Monday, January 5 at about 8:00 a.m. and arriving at NAS North Island at 9:30 a.m.

Call the Midway Arrival Hotline for recorded updates: (619) 234-3497

[ttprince]

5:05 PST

Midway finally arrives in San Diego. First photo:

http://www.midwaysailor.com/midwaysandiego/sandiego-004b.jpg

More photos can be found at: http://www.midwaysailor.com/midwaysandiego/index.html