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| What's a museum visit without a Corsair? |
So I spend all week going up and down ladder wells, then spend hours sitting in front of a console in CIC¹, so what do I do on my day off? Climb around this venerable ship -
There are more pictures than this, many of which feature my finger occluding part of the lens, but I will cover that later, when I head back East. (And have more sleep accumulated!)
I've been to Sandy Eggo many times, this was my first time on the USS Midway (CV 41). Won't be the last.
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| A whale of a tale. (I'll leave that to Cap'n Andy.) |
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| Paddles seems somewhat two-dimensional... |
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| Tuna was right, she's in rough shape. (The Mighty War Hoover.) |
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But this old girl is in fine fettle.
(Looks like Murphy might have popped the canopy open. No, I didn't tell him how.) |
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| An odd vantage point! |
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| Loves me some Spad! |
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| One of LUSH's old rides. |
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An excellent memorial to the men of Taffy 3.
Heroes all... |
More to come, but I need to score some rack time...
¹ Combat Information Center, not what it's called on this class, but many still call it that.
Yowsa! Any day that starts out with a photo of Whistling Death is a good day. Gotta get that thumb trained Sarge, some fine shots there.
ReplyDeleteI know, I'm usually better but I was trying to get as many shots as possible.
DeleteClifton " The Other " Sprague
ReplyDeleteIn my book he is "The" Sprague.
DeleteI tend to agree.
Delete👍
DeleteIt's a shame that carrier isn't large enough to fit a REAL aircraft...
ReplyDelete}:-]
I don't know, it fits an F-4!
DeleteJust sayin'
;-)
Mark - She lasted a lot longer than other ships designed near the end of WWII. She operated "real" aircraft off Vietnam and in the Gulf War. (If you mean the Aluminum Overcast, nope, she wasn't big enough for that.)
Deletejuvat - Aye!
DeleteYup, was talking about the BUFF!
DeleteThe B-52?
DeleteYou betcha!!!
DeleteYou can always tell a SAC guy, but you can't tell him much.
Delete(Offutt AFB, Aug 87 - Dec 91)
Looks like it's not just the War Hoover that could use some TLC. The picture of the guy in the red shirt shows a bit of rust on herself.
ReplyDeleteAn old Marine. Do they rust? (One of the docents on the boat.)
DeleteActually I was talking about the rust directly in front of him. Didn't know where he was on the ship.
DeleteStill less rust showing than on most active Navy ships. Which is bad.
Deletejuvat - I knew that...
DeleteI was standing on the portside bridle catcher which is as far forward as one can get!
Beans - Negative on the "most" active Navy ships, some are better than others, most are at least presentable. (DAMHIK)
DeleteI remember when the Midway was an active carrier and the Whale was something that took up a bunch of space on the Indy's flight deck in the IO.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't really all that long ago...
DeleteOh, it was 29 years ago she was decommissioned?
Okay, it was a long time ago, I forgot that I'm officially "old."
CIC was my workspace, albeit on a tin can.
ReplyDeleteThose were the days of analog, rather than digital.
I probably have as much computer power in my pocket as the most advanced shipboard computers from those days.
We chased the Midway and her contemporaries all over the Pacific Ocean.
Plane guard was not fun, but it could be exciting.
Yup, things have changed. For the better? It's all a matter of perspective.
DeleteI was driving into Lubbock from Abernathy in '79-80?? I saw an F4U taxing, wagging it's tail. I pulled over, walked across the new interstate, and leaned on the 4 foot fence to watch. Another guy rolled up and we just stood there. Run up was smooth, and then cleared to take off. It was loud and lovely.... We watched until she was gone.
ReplyDeleteWe talked a bit and he mentioned he was a pilot. If I ever wanted to fly with him, he'd be happy to oblige. Never did, but I wanted to.
Those old birds a beauties. There's a scooter on a pylon in Beeville, and another one down the road in Kingsville. I have fevered dreams about them returning to flight status.
I know exactly what you mean!
DeleteNice. Pretty planes. Sucks that the War Hoover is so rough. Had a friend who flew them, and when they got rid of them, tried to transition to Hornets and didn't make it. So last I heard he was flying drones. Sad. He loved the War Hoover and was so damned excited when he heard that they were trying to make a COD version. Must have broken his heart when they went with the Osprey (though they should have gone with both, one for the range, one for the ability to fly to all the baby flattops.) Sigh.
ReplyDeleteYep, I won't disagree.
DeleteThanks for the pictures Sarge. I have always enjoyed the Corsair because 1) I just think they are good looking planes; and 2) It was one of the few models I could complete and ended up looking like the box.
ReplyDeleteThe Corsair looks (and sounds) deadly and lovely, at the same time. (Which depends on whether or not you're on the receiving end of her tender mercies.)
DeleteGlad you got aboard. That Viking is actually looking better than she did a month ago. Looks like some fresh paint. They all go through that periodically onboard or out at the refurb facility on NASNI, so it's not a slam on the museum folks at all. I'm glad they take good care of them enough to keep 'em maintained and presentable.
ReplyDeleteThey are working on her. The folks on the museum are doing a very good job keeping things up.
DeleteReading that front panel on that pillar to the Vice Admiral he looks like he was one tough sailor! And made things very "interesting" for the enemy...
ReplyDeleteCool pics!
He and his men fought hard!
DeleteFinally got aboard a few years back. They really do a great job. Waiting to see more of the snipe spaces open
ReplyDeleteBoat Guy
That would be cool.
DeleteLiked the pic of the Taffy 3 memorial. I just finished reading Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors for the third time. What a magnificent group of men!
ReplyDeleteConcur!
DeleteThe Midway is a wonderful place to visit. The last time I was there they had a Dauntless that had been on the Midway during WWII, and a Pilot that had flown SBD's off her during WWII. It wasn't his plane, but he knew who had flown it.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I visit the Taffey 3 Memorial I get all misty eyed. One of the guys I worked with on the Iowa had been a crew member of the USS Hoel, and signed my copy of Hornfischer's book. He'd been a swimmer in high-school, and swam among the groups in rafts and clinging to wreckage to keep track of how everybody was doing. Amazing men in difficult times.
Concur on all points!
Delete