Midway's world cruise around the Cape of Good Hope carried her into the western Pacific as the first large carrier assigned to the Seventh Fleet for this period. During the Taiwan Strait crisis, she provided air cover for an evacuation from the offshore islands. The movement involved roughly 15,000 Chinese Nationalist troops and 20,000 civilians, together with their livestock. Carrier air power protected the movement of an entire defended population. A visible carrier presence connected operational cover with Cold War crisis management.
Notable Point · 25:44-26:19
Seventh Fleet cover for a Taiwan Strait evacuation
During her 1954-55 world cruise, Midway became a major Seventh Fleet carrier and covered the evacuation of Nationalist troops, civilians, and livestock from offshore islands.