Anyone on board when this happened?

Did you get the 'I survived a 35 degree roll on the Midway' patch?

Believe it or not I just read an account on how the US Midway class carriers handled at sea. Quote the author,"The Midway class carriers were small,uncomfortable ships with poor sea keeping abilities." Okay?
Let me say that the book and article were written a Brit. Which accounts alot for the bias.
Years ago I read something by another Brit historian that stated and I quote, "The American Essex class carriers were a fluke in design. Only the prompt and efficient damage control skills of the crew saved them from sinking. They were inferior to the British Ark Royal and subsquent designs by the Royal Navy."
I wrote him a letter asking why, despite the skillful efforts of the British Damage control parties did the Ark Royal sink after being struck by ONE torpedo. Never got an answer...guess he didn't have one.
Jealosy can take strange forms.....

quote:

Originally posted by VCP63:
Anyone on board when this happened?

Did you get the 'I survived a 35 degree roll on the Midway' patch?

Interesting side note on the Midway. She had had some blisters installed.

This alteration was to make Midway "rise out of the water," float higher & to
increase stability & battle damage survivability. 92 Incremental blister modules
were installed from frames 41 to 212 on the port & starboard sides.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Chief_Torpedoman,

Thank you chief. Just goes to show, you can learn something new every day. I'm definitely putting that down in my notes to remember. So he spoke qwith some justification on their sea keeping abilities. Hmmmmm?

quote:

Originally posted by Chief_Torpedoman:

quote:

Originally posted by VCP63:
Anyone on board when this happened?

Did you get the 'I survived a 35 degree roll on the Midway' patch?

Interesting side not on the Midway. Shad had some blisters installed.

This alteration was to make Midway "rise out of the water," float higher & to
increase stability & battle damage survivability. 92 Incremental blister modules
were installed from frames 41 to 212 on the port & starboard sides.

My current boss was onboard both before and after the blisters were installed. According to him, the thing rode like a Cadillac before the installation but afterwards it was a lot rougher in high seas.
When I was on Indy from '96 to '98, there were quite a few guys with the 35 degree patch on their flight/cruise jackets.

Edited to add a link to an article from TMC's link that confirms my boss' story: Article

I was there when this happened.

Midway made her fourteenth and sixth straight WESTPAC deployment in November 1963. Her most significant improvement was increased jet fighter capacity with the addition of Mach 2.2 F-4B Phantom IIs. She returned to Alameda in May 1964 to replace the number three elevator which had been destroyed and lost during extremely heavy seas. This incident happened while Midway was taking on supplies, using the elevator as the transfer point. A wave hit the elevator, lifting it and cocking it in the runners. The wave partially went over the elevator, nearly washing off the sailors who were moving supplies. A second wave hit the elevator, causing it to drop out the bottom of the runners, lifted it higher, and then dropped it, snapping the cables. The elevator fell behind the ship and eventually sunk.

[IMG:right]E:\Doc Folder - RFMD 08 JAN 07\Midway Photos\Flight Deck Composite.jpg[/IMG]

quote:

Flight

The USS Midway (CV-41) was called a "wet" ship, meaning that she rolled, pitched, heaved, and often took "greenies" (green water) over her decks. I can recall seeing her screws churning completely out of the water at the 180 position during day landings.

I was on the Oriskeny for pilot qualls when we took some waves over the bow.

Stopped flight ops and move to the East side of San Clemente Island.

"Did you get the 'I survived a 35 degree roll on the Midway' patch?"

Could someone post a picture of this patch?

I have heard of the incident, but have never seen the patch.

Thanks!

Here ya-go (got it from the link above) posted by jsully001:

[URL=http://www.midwaysailor.com/midwaypatches/patch-032b.jpg]

Don't know how truthful this is BUT on our extended 1972 cruise on the Roosevelt CV-42 it was said that someone in the engine shop put a protractor on the wall with a string at center and a nut tied to the end. We were on the crossing in the sea of France and had taken some waves over the bow and at a few different points had taken some pretty heavy lists and was said a few more degrees starboard and it was possible to capsize. I remember some heavy seas. Just what I heard!

Aboard Coral Sea one sunny day and we start a turn into the wind for launch. Must have been a rookie on the bridge as the ship turned too fast and rolled hard to port. I don't know how many degrees but it was a lot more than we had ever rolled before. An F-4 jumped its chains and came to rest on the Cat Walk. Had to bring Tilly over and gently lift the Phantom back on to the deck.

I've been lurking about and saw this topic and thought I'd join in. I'm not sure about the 35 degree roll, but I was there for the 26 degree roll ( have patch as well, plus one other). Rumor had it that it wouldn't take 24. Here's a few of my photos from those days, plus the related photos from a friends site where my pix are hosted, Midwaysailor.com
http://www.midwaysailor.com/midwaypatches/patch-034b.jpg

Bow wave
http://www.midwaysailor.com/eddiemiller/eddiemiller-015b.jpg
Bow up
http://www.midwaysailor.com/eddiemiller/eddiemiller-018b.jpg
Bow down
http://www.midwaysailor.com/eddiemiller/eddiemiller-019b.jpg

http://www.midwaysailor.com/midway1980/rocknroll.html

Sorry for all the links, but it was a very interesting time to be on deck.
Eddie

Also, here's the EISRA where the blisters were added from my cruisebook.
Eddie
http://www.midwaysailor.com/midway1980/eisra86.html