The USS Midway held the title of the world's largest ship from her 1945 launch until 1955, and she was the first aircraft carrier too big to fit through the Panama Canal. That sheer scale set the tone for a vessel that would serve for 47 years and see action in two wars before finding a permanent berth on San Diego Bay as one of America's most visited naval museums.

Today, her flight deck bristles with dozens of restored aircraft, from Vietnam-era jets to Cold War fighters. Below decks, you can trace the lives of the 225,000 sailors who served aboard her. Just steps away, a bronze statue of an embracing sailor and nurse recalls the famous 1945 "Unconditional Surrender" photograph.

VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours use the Midway and this stretch of Harbor Drive to trace San Diego's identity as a Navy town, connecting the carrier's Cold War role to the wider story of American naval power along the Pacific coast.