登中途島號航母博物館

邱明亮

中途島號航空母艦是當年美國海軍的一個標志，如今成了航空母艦博物館，吸引了來自世界各地的游客前來參觀。

圣地亞哥是美國著名的海港城市，清潔而又靜謐，一眼望去蔚藍的天空和大海就展現在我們的眼前，陽光明媚，不時有白色的海鷗從頭頂飛過，巨大的中途島號航空母艦就靜靜地停靠在港灣邊上，遠遠望去往日的雄風依舊不減。

中途島號航空母艦1945年下水服役，1997年正式退役。它參與了第二次世界大戰、越南戰爭，以及沙漠風暴行動等多項美國海軍的軍事活動。這艘戰艦創造了多項第一，其中包括是第一艘起降噴氣式戰艦的航母以及第一艘發射導彈的航母。1992年，中途島號作為美軍中服役年限最長的戰艦退出了美國艦隊序列。在這期間，大約有20萬美軍在中途島號航空母艦上服役過。2004年1月，中途島號航母抵達圣地亞哥港灣，永久地停靠在了海軍碼頭。而后它便成了專門展示航母及海軍飛行器的海上軍事博物館，由非盈利機構接管并對外開放。據說，當年該博物館的捐助者募集了800萬美元，花費了十年多的時間來進行解除封存后的清洗工作。

登上中途島號的舷梯，入口處首先進入的是航母中艙，足足有幾個足球場大，中間沒有一根柱子。服務員給每個人分發資料，還有說中文的講解員。他告訴我們怎樣使用電子語音導覽器。航母上隨處可見頭戴小黃帽的老人，據了解，這些都是曾在航母上服役的退伍老兵，他們中有飛行員、軍官、地勤、水兵甚至炊事員，現在都在擔當志愿者，熱心為大家講解，個個臉上都掛著熱情的笑容。當我提出合個影時，老兵很爽快地答應了。

中艙是博物館的第一部分——機庫層和前甲板，展出了幾十架各式各樣的飛機。我在馬赫戰斗機模擬器面前聽介紹，它曾是美國軍方戰斗機駕駛員訓練用的模擬器，可讓兩人同時操作，模擬空戰。這里還有不少模擬空戰的游戲，許多人排隊進去玩一把。一位黃帽老人摸了摸剛玩了下來的小朋友，聽說是中國人，他順手從口袋里拿出一枚精致的紀念章送給小朋友。旁邊展位上停著一架二戰中美國海軍使用的F4U“海盜”飛機，另一個展位上是一架TBM復仇者。

過了一會兒我們登上了中途島號的甲板。兩邊琳瑯滿目地擺放著20多架各式戰機、直升機、運輸機。其中有越戰時期的F4鬼怪式戰斗機、F8十字軍戰士戰斗機、F9F-8P美洲獅戰斗機、F9F黑豹戰斗機等。還有現在仍在服役的F14雄貓戰斗機、F18大黃蜂戰斗機等，讓人看得眼花繚亂。有些飛機允許游客坐上駕駛艙親身體驗一下。我們登上了一架海上中級教練機。駕駛艙前方座位上有兩個披掛齊全的教練模型，駕駛艙內儀表盤、操縱桿齊全，游客紛紛用手機和模型合影。

最后參觀的是航母的上層甲板，包括海軍上將和艦長的指揮室、電訊中心、駕駛臺、指揮塔等。由于艦橋上空間狹小，游客必須排隊等候分批由工作人員帶領上去參觀，且有時間限制。這一部分也是整個博物館中唯一不能使用電子語音導覽器的，全由工作人員現場解說。去指揮塔的舷梯很窄，只容一人通過。登上指揮塔，可將整個航母的甲板盡收眼底。老兵的講解十分認真。

接著，我們又順著梯子下到了艦上的生活工作區。這里應有盡有：教堂、醫院、郵局、餐廳、酒吧、軍官俱樂部、宿舍、通訊中心、消防站、機械加工車間、理發室、洗衣房、制衣房、抽煙室……真是麻雀雖小五臟俱全。我們只是走馬觀花游覽了中途島號航母博物館，就花了整整3個小時。

離開這艘巨無霸時，我想到了我們國家的第一艘航空母艦“遼寧”號。前段時間它正驕傲地在黃海、東海、臺灣海峽執行任務。我國第二艘航空母艦已于4月26日下水，這標志著我國自主設計建造航母取得重大階段性成果。若干年后，如果“遼寧”號航母退役了，我們也許能有像中途島號航空母艦那樣的航母博物館了，到那時一定會吸引許許多多的中外游客前來參觀游覽。

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.