MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. -- San Diego is home to a wealth of entertainment, but now it has a little more "magic," as the museum's brochure promotes it, to offer Miramar Marines and Sailors. America's longest-serving aircraft carrier, the USS Midway, is now the San Diego Carrier Museum.
It offers a unique look into the vessel's history, which spans more than four decades of naval service to include the surrender of Japan in World War II to operations during Desert Storm.
The entertainment experience is educational and historically accurate with an audio-guided tour that features first-hand accounts from former crewmembers.
One account documents how two sailors were killed in the liquid oxygen plant station, when a Panamanian merchant ship, the Cactus, hit the Midway. The USS Midway was performing silent night maneuvers with out radar and communication, when the carrier collided in the black of night with the commercial boat.
While no significant harm was sustained by Midway's structure, three of the F-4 phantoms parked on the deck were damaged.
Crew accounts also include information on the capabilities of the ship. One such explanation describes what it is like using the ship's Frensnel lens and why landing pilots calls it the "meatball."
The pilot illustrated how they knew the aircraft was on the correct path of approach when they could see an orange light or "the meatball."
Other features open to the public are one of the Midway's five gallies and the berthing spaces where the crew slept. These features provide perspective on what it was like to live on a city at sea.
The museum also highlights the fact that a majority of the Midway's missions were humanitarian. Such missions include "Frequent Wind" which took place during the fall of Saigon. Helicopters, from Midway's deck evacuated 3,073 U.S. personnel and Vietnamese refugees out of Saigon and brought them to safety.
After a South Vietnamese pilot asked permission to land, the Midway's crew cleared an angle of the deck where the pilot could safely land his Cessna O-1 Bird Dog observation plane with his wife and five children aboard.
The Midway's crew was subsequently awarded the Navy Unit Commendation and the Humanitarian Service Medal for her efforts.
One mission that was more combative was the historic launch of a captured German V-2 rocket. Operation "Sandy" took place September 6, 1947. The purpose of the maneuver was to see if a large rocket could be launched from a moving platform, like an aircraft carrier, without modifications.
This operation changed Naval combat in a significant way by including technologies of sea launched high power weaponry.
History and ship life are not the only attractions this majestic floating city has to offer. There are two varieties simulators available to visitors. The type featuring a cockpit with a hatch that closes costs $40 an hour and the 15 ft TV screen arcade model can be played for $10 for a half hour.
A unique dining experience can be found on the carrier's aft deck. The Fantail Café offers an assortment of beverages, cookies and sandwiches in an open-air setting.
The progress of the museum will continue as new exhibits such as the opening of the brig and sickbay become available to the public.
The Midway is open seven days a week to exclude major holidays and the hours of operation are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission fees are $13 for adults $10 for seniors, military ID and student ID card holders, and $7 for youths ages six to 17. Active duty military members in uniform and children under the age of six get in free.
The museum also features a gift shop where tourists and locals alike memorialize their Midway magic experience picking up clothing and other commemorative items.