CV-3 USS Saratoga

"Sara"

Highlights of Ship's Service History

Keel laid as battle cruiser #3 (CC-3) at the New York Shipbuilding Company, Camden, New Jersey.

Reordered as an aircraft carrier under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty and reclassified CV-3.

Launched; sponsored by the wife of the Secretary of the Navy, Mrs. Curtis D. Wilbur.

Commissioned under the command of Captain Harry E. Yarnell.

First landing by air officer Marc A. Mitscher, later a noted World War II carrier task force commander.
Saratoga rendezvoused with airship ZR-3 Los Angeles, which moored to her stern and took on fuel and supplies.
Joined Battle Fleet at San Pedro, California.

Participated in Fleet Problem IX. Saratoga aircraft launched a successful surprise "attack" on the Panama Canal, which was defended by fleet elements including CV-2 USS Lexington. The tactic was incorporated into Navy doctrine.

In an attempted repeat of the success during Fleet Problem IX, Saratoga and CV-1 USS Langley try to launch an air "attack" against a target in the Carribean during Fleet Problem X. This time, however, both ships are "disabled" by surprise "attacks" from Lexington aircraft, demonstrating how quickly naval air power can change the odds in a combat engagement.
Participated in Presidential Review, Norfolk, Virginia.
Routine operations, exercises and maintenance based out of San Diego-San Pedro, California.

Returning from exercises off Hawaii, Saratoga launches a surprise air "attack" on the city of Long Beach, California.

During Fleet Problem XIX, conducted off Hawaii, Saratoga launches a successful surprise air "attack" on Pearl Harbor, dispatching her aircraft from 100 miles off Oahu. This eerily presaged the Japanese attacks of 7 December 1941.

Modernisation at Bremerton Navy Yard, Washington. Forward flight deck widened, hull "blistered" on the starboard side and additional anti-aircraft weapons installed.
Returning to San Diego after routine maintenance at Bremerton. Saratoga sails on 8 December with Marine aircraft and personnel intended to reinforce Wake Island. Refuelling at Pearl Harbor on the 15th, Saratoga continues toward Wake, but is recalled on the 22nd. Wake falls to the Japanese on the 23rd.

During operations southwest of Oahu, Saratoga is hit by a torpedo from Japanese submarine I-19. Six men are killed and several firerooms flooded, but Saratoga returns to Pearl under her own power. Minor repairs are made, and her 8" guns are removed for installation on shore, then Saratoga proceeds to Bremerton for permanent repairs.
Operations in the Pacific, including an aircraft ferry run to Midway Island (22-29 June) and air cover for landings on Fiji (28-30 July).
Saratoga begins the Guadalcanal campaign by launching aircraft to cover the Marine landings. She continues to support the ground campaign through the end of the month.
Saratoga is the target of six torpedoes fired by Japanese submarine I-26. One malfunctions and four miss, but the sixth hits the aft end of Saratoga's starboard bulge, flooding one fireroom and causing damage to electrical systems which cause Saratoga to go dead in the water. No one is killed in the attack, and escorting destroyers drive off the submarine. Saratoga is taken in tow by the heavy cruiser CA-36 USS Minneapolis while her engineers make repairs. Her aircraft are flown off to ground bases and Saratoga sails first to Tongatabu, then to Pearl Harbor, for repair.

Operations in the vicinity of Noumea and the Solomon Islands, including a brilliant attack on Japanese ships in the port of Rabaul, disabling several Japanese cruisers that were forming to attack Bougainville.

After a year of continuous combat operations, Saratoga undergoes overhaul in San Francisco which includes a greatly augmented anti-aircraft battery.
Returned to Pacific operations, supporting attacks at Wotje, Taroa and Eniwetok.
Saratoga is detached from the Pacific Fleet to join British forces in the Indian Ocean. She joins the British carrier HMS Illustrious and an escort of four battleships and smaller ships. The force is later joined by the French battleship Richelieu. Over the next two months, this task force conducts training and then attacks the port of Sabang, Sumatra and Soerabaja, Java.
Saratoga departs the Indian Ocean and returns to Bremerton, Washington for routine maintenance.
With CV-4 USS Ranger, Saratoga is assigned to Carrier Division 11. It's mission: train pilots and develop night fighter tactics and doctrine.

Saratoga departs Pearl harbor to join CV-6 USS Enterprise in forming a night fighter task group for the invasion of Iwo Jima.
While approaching Iwo Jima, Saratoga comes under attack from Japanese aircraft. The aircraft make five hits in three minutes, causing extensive damage to Saratoga's flight deck, hangar deck and starboard side. Despite 123 crew killed or missing, and a second air attack, the damage is contained and Saratoga is able to operate aircraft. However, she is ordered to Bremerton via Eniwetok for repairs.
After repairs, Saratoga begins training pilots at Pearl Harbor. This duty is terminated by the Japanese surrender in September.
Saratoga departs Pearl Harbor with 3,712 naval personnel on board, enroute to the United States. This is the first of Saratoga's "Operation Magic Carpet" voyages, returning veterans home from the war. By the time she is finished, Saratoga has transported 29,204 veterans home from the Pacific, more than any other single ship.

Saratoga is declared surplus due to the large number of newer Essex-class carriers available after the war. She is assigned to "Operation Crossroads" as a target to test the effects of atomic bombs on naval vessels. At Bikini Atoll, she survives the first test, an air burst codenamed "Able", on 1 July, but is severely damaged by a second test, codename "Baker" (underwater detonation), on the 25th. Inaccessible due to radioactivity, she sinks seven and a half hours after the "Baker" explosion.
Saratoga is stricken from the Navy List of active vessels.

Notes

World War II citations: 7 Battle Stars
Name continued by Forrestal-class fleet carrier CV-60 USS Saratoga

Sources
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships - U. S. Naval Historical Center Wikipedia Online Library of Selected Images - U. S. Naval Historical Center NavSource: Photographic History of the U.S. Navy Haze Gray & Underway	National Park Service: Submerged Resources Center - Bikini Atoll

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