Captain arrested for hit-and-run after boat crashes into decommissioned USS Midway

A private boat crashed into the decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Midway in San Diego Bay, with the captain arrested shortly afterwards for suspected boating under the influence and fleeing the scene.

The 60ft vessel struck the starboard bow of the USS Midway – now a floating museum – just before 02:00 local time.

No injuries were reported, but the damage to the ship is estimated at more than $100,000.

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According to police, the boat initially left the scene but was intercepted shortly afterwards by San Diego Harbor Police near the Coronado Bridge.

The captain, who has not yet been named, was taken into custody on suspicion of hit and run and boating under the influence (BUI).

San Diego Web Cam posted a viewer-submitted video on Instagram showing the moment of impact and the footage quickly circulated online and prompted a wave of reactions.

One viewer wrote: "So you're telling me a boat entered an exclusion zone and wasn't shot and sank. Right good work crew."

Others jumped in to clarify that the USS Midway is no longer a warship, but a museum. "With what, the tourists' flip-flops?" read one reply. 

The confusion led to more pointed comments, including: "Did we learn nothing from the USS Cole?"

The reference was to the USS Cole bombing in 2000, when al-Qaeda suicide bombers rammed a small boat filled with explosives into the side of the US Navy destroyer while it was refuelling in Yemen. Seventeen sailors were killed, and dozens more were injured.

While the Midway is no longer a commissioned warship and has no active crew or defences, the commenter's frustration reflected concern over how easily a large boat managed to strike such a prominent US naval landmark.

Commissioned in 1945, the USS Midway served for nearly 50 years before being decommissioned in 1992, having served through the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm. 

USS Midway was the largest aircraft carrier in the world until 1955, as well as the first US aircraft carrier too big to transit the Panama Canal. 

It now welcomes more than a million visitors a year as a floating museum.

Harbour authorities are reviewing the incident, and police say charges are expected.