The third Midway (CVB 41) was laid down 27 October 1943 by Newport NewsShipbuilding Co.,Newport News, V a.; launched 20 March 1944 sponsored by,Mrs. Barndford William Ripley, Jr.; and commissioned 10 September 1945,,Capt. Joseph F. Bolger in command.

After shakedown in the Caribbean, Midway joined in the Atlantic Fleet training schedule, with Norfolk her homeport. From 20 February 1946 shewas flagship for CarDiv 1. In March sue tested equipment and techniques for cold weather operations in the North Atlantic. East coast and Caribbean training was highlighted by operation "Sandy" in which in September 1947 she test fired a captured German N-2 rocket from her flight deck, first such launching from a moving platform.

On 29 October 1947 Midway sailed for the first of her annual deploymentswith the 6th Fleet, mighty peacekeeping force in the Mediterranean. A powerful extension of sea/air power, Midway trained between deployments and received alterations necessary to accommodate heavier aircraft as they were developed.In 1952 she participated in North Sea maneuvers',with NATO forces, and on1 October was redesignated CVA-41.

Midway cleared Norfolk 27 December 1954 for a world cruise, sailing viathe Cape of Good Hope for Taiwan ,.where she joined the 7th Fleet for operationsin the Western Pacific until 28 June 1955 when she sailed for overhaul at Puget Sound Nabal Shipyard. Here she `was out of commission until .30 September1957,while she was modernized and such new innovations as an enclosed bowand an angled flight deck were installed.

Homeported at Alameda, Midway began annual deployments with the 7th Fleetin 1958, and was on on such duty in the South China Sea during the Laotiancrisis of spring l961. During g her 1962 deployment her aircraft testedthe air defense systems of Japan, Korea, Okinawa, the Philippines, and Taiwan.When she again sailed for the Far East in March 1963, her aircraft .were prepared for combat operations, and from mid-April flew strikes against military and logistics installations in North and South Vietnam. Illustrative of the major contribution the carrier made to the campaign of the free forces to repel Communist aggression was a notable "first" for aviatorsof her .Attack Carrier Wing 2, who in June downed the first three Migs'scredited to U.S. Forces in Southeast Asia. Returning to Alameda 23 November,she entered San Francisco Navy Naval Shipyard 11 February 1966 for extensive modernization, for which she was placed in Reserve, in commission special.13 February 1966. She is scheduled for recommission in January 1970. Midway was the last World War II era carrier in commission. She was decommissioned in 1992.