Decades of refits left Midway with a serious stability penalty and the nickname of a rock-and-roll carrier. During a 1988 typhoon in the Sea of Japan, she reportedly rolled to 26 degrees despite a stated 24-degree limit. The ship survived, but the motion would have been punishing for her crew and dangerous for flight-deck operations. The typhoon gives a human and operational consequence to the technical limits of repeated modernization.
Notable Point · 22:26-22:56
Modernization made Midway a rock-and-roll carrier
A 1988 typhoon pushed Midway beyond her stated roll limit and exposed the handling penalty imposed by decades of major alterations.