With military action becoming more likely, the Midway was joined by the USS Ranger and the USS Theodore Roosevelt battlegroups the following month. 1, the Midway relieved the USS Independence battlegroup to watch over the oil fields. 2, cast off from her homeport in Yokosuka, Japan and set a course for the Persian Gulf.Īrriving on Nov. The aging carrier was not going to just quietly fade away and on Oct. The rapid collapse of communism after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 rendered the Cold War moot, and the Midway, after nearly 50 years of service, was slated for decommissioning. The immediate concern was safeguarding the Saudi oil fields, so began Operation Desert Shield, the largest multi-service mobilization since the early Cold War.įor the Midway, however, her career was officially nearing the end. Should diplomatic pressure fail, military means would have to be employed to forcibly eject Iraqi troops from Kuwait. With the potential of a further Iraqi advance into Saudi Arabia following their invasion of Kuwait, the Bush administration moved rapidly to build a diplomatic and military coalition of nations to reverse Saddam’s fait accompli in Kuwait. This was in response to the surprise attack and seizure of the small oil-rich kingdom by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s military the previous August. 17,1991, aircraft from Carrier Air Wing 5 launched from the flight deck of the Midway initiating the combat air campaign against Iraq to prepare the battlefield for the pending coalition of nations’ counter-invasion and the liberation of Kuwait. Keep reading to learn about more about this historic event… January 17, 1991 In honor of the 30th Anniversary of Operation Desert Storm, I took a moment to reflect on Midway’s involvement as the flagship for all naval aircraft carrier battle groups in the Persian Gulf during this time. Welcome back to “Karl’s Korner,” a historical segment written by me, Karl Zingheim – Ship Historian of the USS Midway Museum.
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