The Midway Class Carriers Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1940

Prior to the "Midway" class, no U.S. aircraft carriers had an armored flight deck, which led to sometimes catastrophic damage from bomb hits in the early part of World War II. After studying damage reports on contemporary British carriers, which were equipped with armored flight decks, the "Midway" design of 1940 called for a larger ship than the "Essex" class that had better protection.

Answer: Six

The U.S. Congress originally approved the construction of four "Midway" class carriers in 1942, and two more vessels were authorized in 1943. Three of the ships were cancelled before construction began. The ships in the class were the "Midway", the "Coral Sea", and the "Franklin D. Roosevelt".

Answer: Three

The lead ship of the class, "Midway", was commissioned in September, 1945, shortly after the end of World War II. The "Franklin D. Roosevelt" followed in October, 1945, and the "Coral Sea" joined the fleet in October, 1947.

Answer: None

As the newest and most capable ships in the U.S. fleet at the time of the Korean War, the three "Midways" were kept in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean as part of America's nuclear deterrent during the Cold War, leaving the older "Essex" class ships to shoulder the burden in Korea.

Answer: Up to 130

The much larger size of the "Midway"class ships as built allowed them to carry up to 130 of the Navy's piston-engine aircraft of the 1940s. In practice, however, it was found that this was too many planes for effective control, and none of the ships ever operated so large of an air group. After transitioning to jet aircraft, the typical air group numbered some 70 planes and helicopters.

Answer: The angled flight deck

As with the "Essex" class carriers, the "Midway" class ships were given angled flight decks and catapults during a modernization program in the 1950s, allowing them to operate the heavier jet aircraft then available.

Answer: Coral Sea

During the Vietnam War, the "Coral Sea" was deployed to the Gulf of Tonkin six times, while the "Midway" did three tours of duty off Vietnam. The "Franklin D. Roosevelt" was only deployed to Vietnam one time.

Answer: Franklin D. Roosevelt

In 1977, the "Franklin D. Roosevelt" was in poor condition. With the "Nimitz" class of supercarriers coming into service, the ship was decommissioned and eventually scrapped in 1978.

Answer: One

The "Coral Sea" was saved from decommissioning in 1980 by President Reagan's naval build-up, but she was in very poor condition and was stricken in 1990. The "Midway" participated in the 1991 war against Iraq, but was also stricken in April, 1992.

Answer: Midway

After decommissioning in 1992, the "Midway" was part of the " mothball fleet" in Bremerton, Washington until 1997, when she was officially stricken from the Naval Register. In 2003, the ship was opened as a museum in San Diego, California.