登中途岛号航母博物馆

邱明亮

中途岛号航空母舰是当年美国海军的一个标志，如今成了航空母舰博物馆，吸引了来自世界各地的游客前来参观。

圣地亚哥是美国著名的海港城市，清洁而又静谧，一眼望去蔚蓝的天空和大海就展现在我们的眼前，阳光明媚，不时有白色的海鸥从头顶飞过，巨大的中途岛号航空母舰就静静地停靠在港湾边上，远远望去往日的雄风依旧不减。

中途岛号航空母舰1945年下水服役，1997年正式退役。它参与了第二次世界大战、越南战争，以及沙漠风暴行动等多项美国海军的军事活动。这艘战舰创造了多项第一，其中包括是第一艘起降喷气式战舰的航母以及第一艘发射导弹的航母。1992年，中途岛号作为美军中服役年限最长的战舰退出了美国舰队序列。在这期间，大约有20万美军在中途岛号航空母舰上服役过。2004年1月，中途岛号航母抵达圣地亚哥港湾，永久地停靠在了海军码头。而后它便成了专门展示航母及海军飞行器的海上军事博物馆，由非盈利机构接管并对外开放。据说，当年该博物馆的捐助者募集了800万美元，花费了十年多的时间来进行解除封存后的清洗工作。

登上中途岛号的舷梯，入口处首先进入的是航母中舱，足足有几个足球场大，中间没有一根柱子。服务员给每个人分发资料，还有说中文的讲解员。他告诉我们怎样使用电子语音导览器。航母上随处可见头戴小黄帽的老人，据了解，这些都是曾在航母上服役的退伍老兵，他们中有飞行员、军官、地勤、水兵甚至炊事员，现在都在担当志愿者，热心为大家讲解，个个脸上都挂着热情的笑容。当我提出合个影时，老兵很爽快地答应了。

中舱是博物馆的第一部分——机库层和前甲板，展出了几十架各式各样的飞机。我在马赫战斗机模拟器面前听介绍，它曾是美国军方战斗机驾驶员训练用的模拟器，可让两人同时操作，模拟空战。这里还有不少模拟空战的游戏，许多人排隊进去玩一把。一位黄帽老人摸了摸刚玩了下来的小朋友，听说是中国人，他顺手从口袋里拿出一枚精致的纪念章送给小朋友。旁边展位上停着一架二战中美国海军使用的F4U“海盗”飞机，另一个展位上是一架TBM复仇者。

过了一会儿我们登上了中途岛号的甲板。两边琳琅满目地摆放着20多架各式战机、直升机、运输机。其中有越战时期的F4鬼怪式战斗机、F8十字军战士战斗机、F9F-8P美洲狮战斗机、F9F黑豹战斗机等。还有现在仍在服役的F14雄猫战斗机、F18大黄蜂战斗机等，让人看得眼花缭乱。有些飞机允许游客坐上驾驶舱亲身体验一下。我们登上了一架海上中级教练机。驾驶舱前方座位上有两个披挂齐全的教练模型，驾驶舱内仪表盘、操纵杆齐全，游客纷纷用手机和模型合影。

最后参观的是航母的上层甲板，包括海军上将和舰长的指挥室、电讯中心、驾驶台、指挥塔等。由于舰桥上空间狭小，游客必须排队等候分批由工作人员带领上去参观，且有时间限制。这一部分也是整个博物馆中唯一不能使用电子语音导览器的，全由工作人员现场解说。去指挥塔的舷梯很窄，只容一人通过。登上指挥塔，可将整个航母的甲板尽收眼底。老兵的讲解十分认真。

接着，我们又顺着梯子下到了舰上的生活工作区。这里应有尽有：教堂、医院、邮局、餐厅、酒吧、军官俱乐部、宿舍、通讯中心、消防站、机械加工车间、理发室、洗衣房、制衣房、抽烟室……真是麻雀虽小五脏俱全。我们只是走马观花游览了中途岛号航母博物馆，就花了整整3个小时。

离开这艘巨无霸时，我想到了我们国家的第一艘航空母舰“辽宁”号。前段时间它正骄傲地在黄海、东海、台湾海峡执行任务。我国第二艘航空母舰已于4月26日下水，这标志着我国自主设计建造航母取得重大阶段性成果。若干年后，如果“辽宁”号航母退役了，我们也许能有像中途岛号航空母舰那样的航母博物馆了，到那时一定会吸引许许多多的中外游客前来参观游览。

My Visit to Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum

By Qiu Mingliang

My friends and I traveled to San Diego to visit the USS Midway in San Diego， a port city in USAs west coast. The day we visited the carrier， it was sunny and quiet. The carrier loomed large and magnificent at the wharf. White seagulls flapped their wings leisurely passing over our heads.

The USS Midway came into military service in 1945 and retired in 1997， a period of decades that spanned World War Two， Vietnam War and Desert Storm. About 200，000 people served during the decades when it was in service. In January 2004， the USS Midway arrived at San Diego and permanently stayed there. Since then it is officially known as Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum. It took about eight million dollars from donors and more than ten years to clean up the carrier.

The carrier was awe-inspiring and impressive in its bigness. We arrived first at the main hangar deck. It is as large as a few football fields and there is not a pillar anywhere. We were given pamphlets. A tour guide spoke Chinese. He showed us how to use a digital audio guide gadget. There were docents everywhere， wearing yellow caps. They were veterans who once served on the carrier， including pilots， officers， ground crew members， sailors， and cooks. They were friendly and smiled a lot. They were glad to pose with visitors for a picture. I requested a veteran to pose with me. He most gladly obliged.

The first part we visited was the hangar deck and the front deck， where dozens of old planes were on display. Also on display were some training simulators for pilots. Some visitors queued to play games at the simulators. A Chinese kid had just left a game behind. A veteran gave him a souvenir badge after learning that he was from China.

Then we went up to the flight deck flanked on either side by 10 plus airplanes. It was actually an exhibition of old-time airplanes. I was dazzled by the variety of these jet fighters. Visitors were allowed to get into the cockpits of some planes. I climbed into a trainer aircraft. In the front seat were two fully dressed dummies and a full panel of instruments and a control stick.

The last part we visited was the island， the superstructure of the carrier. As the space up there was narrow， visitors went up in small groups led by tour guides. Visiting time was also limited. No audio guides were allowed up there. A commanding view from the island was impressive： I could see all the flight deck.

Then we went down to the living quarters where there was a church， a hospital， a post office， canteens， a club for officers， dorms， a barbers shop， a laundry room， a tailors shop， a smoking room， etc. Though these were deep down in the carrier， they were all there.

It took me about good three hours to go through the parts that were open to the public. The sightseeing was far from being complete and thorough. What if I had taken a closer look at a much slower pace？ My fascination with the Midway Aircraft Carrier was largely inspired by Chinas Liaoning Aircraft Carrier. I couldnt help but wonder when I would be able to visit it in China after its retirement.