Ceremony Will Retire Carrier Midway : Military: Built during World War II, the Navy ship that saw 46 years of service and 200,000 men will be decommissioned today at North Island Naval Air Station.

The Navy will cut another link to its past today, when the World War II-era aircraft carrier Midway will be decommissioned in a ceremony at North Island Naval Air Station after 46 years of service.

Secretary of the Navy H. Lawrence Garrett III is expected to join other dignitaries and members of the original crew in what is expected to be an emotional experience for some in attendance. Over the years, an estimated 200,000 men served aboard the carrier, nicknamed “Tip of the Sword.”

Today’s ceremony marks the retirement from active duty of the last U.S. combat ship built for service in World War II. Before today, the Midway was the oldest U.S. carrier on active duty. She launched four generations of Navy aircraft, from gull-winged propeller-driven F4U-4 Corsair fighters to modern F/A-18 Hornets used in the Persian Gulf War.

Recently, the Navy also decommissioned its last four World War II battleships--Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa and New Jersey.

The Midway will join other retired ships at Bremerton, Wash., home of the Navy’s “Mothball Fleet.” As with the battleships, Navy officials said it was budgetary considerations, not operational ability, that forced them to retire the Midway. Simply, the Midway’s age and technology made her too expensive to operate.

Named after the June 4-7, 1942, battle between U.S. and Japanese fleets near the Midway islands in the Pacific, the Midway was commissioned Sept. 10, 1945, at the Norfolk, Va., Naval Shipyard. Her commissioning came nine days after the Japanese signed surrender papers aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

The ship carried the proud name of the Battle of Midway, one of the most crucial battles in U.S. history. With America’s back to the wall during the darkest days of World War II, an outnumbered U.S. Navy force dealt the Japanese a decisive blow that many historians consider the turning point in the Pacific War.

Navy and Marine fliers handed the Japanese Navy its first defeat since 1592 at Midway. The American fleet, which included the carriers Yorktown, Hornet and Enterprise, sank the four Japanese carriers used in the battle, including their aircraft. The Americans lost the Yorktown.

The Japanese were commanded by Adm. Iroroku Yamamoto, who was the architect of the attack on Pearl Harbor six months earlier.

Also expected to participate in today’s ceremony is former Navy Lt. George H. Gay. Gay, a graduate of Texas A&M; University, was the only survivor of Torpedo Squadron Eight, which participated in the Battle of Midway. All of the squadron’s planes were shot down in the battle, and 29 fliers were killed.

Gay also was shot down and wounded by anti-aircraft fire, but not before scoring a hit on a carrier. He bobbed in the ocean for about 24 hours before being rescued.

Although the Midway joined the fleet in 1945, it did not get its first taste of battle until the Vietnam War. Deployed to the Tonkin Gulf off the coast of what was then North Vietnam in June, 1965, the carrier’s aircraft downed the first three North Vietnamese MIG fighter jets of the war.

Returning to Vietnam in 1972, two Midway fliers, Lt. Vic Kovaleski and Lt. Jim Wise, shot down the last MIG of the Vietnam War on Jan. 12, 1973. A cease-fire agreement between the United States and North Vietnam was signed three days later in Paris.

In 1973, the Midway was assigned to Yokosuka, Japan, a move intended to blunt the expansion of the Soviet navy in the Western Pacific and Indian oceans.

Last year, Midway aircraft flew the first air strikes of Operation Desert Storm. The ship was the only U.S. carrier that did not lose any aircraft or crewmen during the Persian Gulf War, despite 121 sorties per day flown during the brief conflict.

Today actually marks the third time that the Midway has been decommissioned. The ship was decommissioned first Oct. 15, 1955, for modernization. It was recommissioned Sept. 30, 1957. It was decommissioned again Nov. 23, 1965, and recommissioned Jan. 31, 1970.

However, with the breakup of the Soviet Union and the easing of the threat by the Russian navy, it is unlikely that the Midway will ever be recommissioned again, Navy officials said.

The decommissioning ritual is time-honored and filled with tradition. At some point today, the decommissioning officer will order the whip-like commissioning pennant--a distinctive mark flown by combat ships of all nations--lowered from the Midway.

The narrow pennant, a combination of a blue field broken by seven white stars trailed by two red and white horizontal stripes, will be lowered and handed to the Midway’s commanding officer, Capt. Larry L. Ernst. When that is done, the Midway will be officially retired.