The artist Beaumont was on hand to capture the initial ‘shake-down' cruise of the aircraft carrier CVB-41, U.S.S. Midway. Named for the penultimate naval battle at the midway atoll in June of 1942, she was christened only after carrier CVE-63 was changed to St. Lo in 1943, this to honor a decisive American victory in retaking the heavily defended French town of this name.
Working natural colors in an aggressive manner to show the troughs of the Atlantic, the behemoth carrier dwarves even the impressive battleships in its company. A lone plane holds the sky with its own impressive bands of color, while the deck is shown full of the aircraft and machinery waiting to be deployed. The natural harbor of southeastern Cuba has long been an American and naval stronghold. Period paintings of American naval ships are very rare.
Launched in March of 1945, the war concluded months prior, so she saw her first duty as part of the mighty 6th fleet, peacekeepers of the Mediterranean Ocean. Home ported in Norfolk, she was altered several times to accommodate heavier and heavier aircraft. She switched to the Pacific Fleet in 1958, and her aviators of Attack Carrier Wing 2 were the first recorded pilots to down communist Mig's over southeast Asia in 1965.
Provenance: Dean Beaumont, Son of the Artist; Nautical Heritage Society, Dana Point, Calif.
Inscribed UR: USS Midway Guantanamo 1945
