[kellyhound]

A 60 foot sport fishing boat sailed into the side of the decommissioned USS Midway on Jul. 18, 2025, with the operator apparently under the influence of alcohol.

No injuries and no major damage to either vessel have been reported.

Footage of the incident was captured both by San Diego Web Cam, as well as visitors on board the USS Midway at the time.

With neither vessel taking significant damage, the civilian craft subsequently attempted to leave the scene before soon being intercepted by a police boat. Local police later confirmed to The San Diego Union-Tribune that one person had been arrested on suspicion of boating while under the influence.

The USS Midway is berthed across San Diego Bay from Naval Base Coronado, which is the homeport of three current U.S. Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and a large number of U.S. Navy aircraft squadrons. Midway was decommissioned in 1992 and subsequently left the Naval Register in 1997.

After being towed from Bremerton, Washington, and undergoing restoration work in Oakland, California, the ship opened as the USS Midway Museum at its current location in 2004.

[marcos_69]

You see this a lot offshore. Especially with the rich guys with nice boats.

[Mr.NoCredit]

How can you not miss a giant-ass boat in front of you!?!

I have this picture in my head of a guy behind the steering wheel asleep and drooling down his shirt and wakes up looking at a giant gray wall of metal and is like:

[DarkSighted]

Except now, someone's gonna go 'hm..... they didn't even TRY to stop it, there was no buoy line, nothing. I could pack a lot of boomies into a yacht..." I mean, it's just a museum now, but would still make a big mess (and waste a bunch of tourists).

Quick fun (fact): my dad was on the Midway. The reason it was decommissioned, so he told me, was because the elevators and hangar layout/spaces couldn't be adjusted/made large enough to keep up with upcoming jet sizes. Not for long enough to be economically feasible, anyway.

[kellyhound]

Originally Posted by DarkSighted ↗

Except now, someone's gonna go 'hm..... they didn't even TRY to stop it, there was no buoy line, nothing. I could pack a lot of boomies into a yacht..." I mean, it's just a museum now, but would still make a big mess (and waste a bunch of tourists).

Quick fun (fact): my dad was on the Midway. The reason it was decommissioned, so he told me, was because the elevators and hangar layout/spaces couldn't be adjusted/made large enough to keep up with upcoming jet sizes. Not for long enough to be economically feasible, anyway.

Also they called it the rock'n roll carrier as it experienced excessive rolls, such as a 26-degree roll during a 1988 typhoon.

Also government spendings dropped during the 90's.

Despite divided government for 8 of the 10 years of the 1990s, federal spending was cut from 21.9 percent of GDP to 18.2 percent, amounting to an economically significant 17 percent reduction in the share of the economy spent by the federal government.

Most of the cuts—61.2 percent of the reduction in total spending—occurred in national defense, primarily due to the end of the Cold War.

Over the decade, defense spending dropped from 5.2 percent of GDP in 1990 to 3.0 percent in 2000, and these cuts reflected a broad consensus among Republicans and Democrats.

Also issues with unreliable flash evaporators noted by former crew members, affecting basic operations such as water supply. The high cost of maintaining an aging ship further justified its retirement.