USS Saratoga (CV-3)

	; The Saratoga with an airplane landing, June 6, 1935
Overview
Type	Aircraft carrier
Shipyard	New York Shipbuilding
Keel laying	September 25, 1920
Launch	April 7, 1925
Commissioning	November 16, 1927
Whereabouts	Sunk on July 25, 1946 after nuclear weapons test
Technical specifications
displacement	36,000 ts
length	270.7 m
width	32.31 m
Draft	7.39 m
crew	2950 men
drive	turbo-electric, 4 screws, 184,000 hp
speed	33.25 knots
Range	9500 nm at 15 kn
Armament	8 × 20.3 cm L / 55 Sk ; 12 × 12.7 cm L / 25 Flak; 36 × 28 mm Quadruple Flak (9 mounts ) ; 4 twin machine guns; 12 single machine guns
Planes	91

The USS Saratoga (CV-3) was the second Lexington- class ship and the second operational aircraft carrier in the United States Navy . As a fifth ship , which after the Battle of Saratoga was named, was the Saratoga first as a battlecruiser planned and on keel was laid, but was then completed as an aircraft carrier after a decision of 1 July 1,922th

history

The Saratoga , usually just called "Sara", was launched on April 7, 1925 at New York Shipbuilding and was put into service on November 16, 1927. Together with her sister ship Lexington , she was the first carrier fast and agile enough to successfully take part in sea operations. From the late 1920s to the beginning of World War II , she was actively involved in the development of new defense and attack techniques that included the use of aircraft carriers. A whole generation of US naval aviators were trained and trained on it . On January 28, 1928, the approximately 200 m long airship ZR-3 Los Angeles landed on the carrier. However, it remained with this one-time successful attempt.

Pacific War

The Saratoga in Puget Sound , September 7, 1944

Front deck of the Saratoga after the attack by Tokkōtai pilots

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 , the USS Saratoga was on the US west coast and was immediately set off for Hawaii . Shortly afterwards she was supposed to deliver planes for defense to Wake , which however fell to the Japanese beforehand.

While the ship was operating in the wider area of Hawaii, it was attacked by a Japanese submarine with torpedoes on January 11, 1942 . A severe hit damaged the Saratoga so badly that it lay in Pearl Harbor for several months for repairs. During that time, their weapons were also exchanged. Shortly after the Battle of Midway , she was able to participate in combat operations again.

The ship's first major mission was to cover the landing on Guadalcanal in August 1942. Shortly thereafter, she took part in the Battle of the East Solomon Islands , in which her aircraft sank the light Japanese carrier Ryūjō . On August 31, she was hit again by a submarine torpedo and returned via Tonga to Pearl Harbor, where she was docked for two months for repairs.

In December 1942, the Saratoga returned to the South Pacific, where it covered American operations in the Solomon Islands. In November 1943 she carried out attacks on the Japanese base in Rabaul and then took part in the Battle of the Gilbert Islands . In December 1943, she returned to San Francisco for an overhaul, with her anti-aircraft armament being significantly reinforced. In early 1944 she was involved in the Battle of the Marshall Islands . The British Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean was supported by it in April and May 1944 in attacks on the East India Territories occupied by the Japanese .

After some modifications and a longer training phase, during which she was prepared for the use of night fighters, her next missions were the Battle of Iwojima and attacks on the Japanese mainland. Due to damage by some Tokkōtai aircraft on February 21, 1945, another dock stay in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard was necessary.

Shortly before the end of the Pacific War , the Saratoga was still used for pilot training in Pearl Harbor, before it brought Americans back to the USA from the Pacific region in Operation Magic Carpet in September 1945 .

Whereabouts

The Saratoga sinks in the Pacific in 1946

Because the Saratoga was too old for the American post-war fleet, it was designated as a target for the nuclear bomb tests in Bikini Atoll in Operation Crossroads . The ship survived the first test on July 1, 1946, but on July 25, when an underwater bomb was tested, the Saratoga sank in the Pacific. She had been moved within half a kilometer of the detonation point of the bomb, which catapulted the heavy ship away on a huge wave by almost a kilometer. Since it had a large number of special watertight compartments, it only sank about seven hours after the detonation.

Today, the Saratoga is a popular destination for wreck divers , because besides the Oriskany , the Graf Zeppelin and the HMS Hermes it is the only aircraft carrier where this is possible. It is located on position 11 ° 34 '53 " N , 165 ° 29' 54" O coordinates: 11 ° 34 '53 " N , 165 ° 29' 54" O in about 58 meters of depth, with the bridge (caused by the height of the ship) is only about 12 meters below the water surface and is easily accessible for divers. The hull of the Saratoga standing upright on the ocean floor shows severe deformations and damage that the ship suffered from the pressure waves of the two atomic bombs. Both aircraft wrecks and live ammunition can be found in their hangars. It is also one of the largest man-made reefs . 11.581388888889 165.49833333333

The Saratoga Table in Antarctica is named after the ship.

Trivia

The German vocal ensemble Comedian Harmonists gave a concert on the Saratoga in the harbor of New York City in front of the assembled US Atlantic and Pacific Fleet in June 1934 as part of their USA tour .

literature

John Fry: USS Saratoga (CV-3). An Illustrated History of the Legendary Aircraft Carrier 1927-1946. Schiffer Publishing, Atglen PA 1996, 2000. ISBN 0-7643-0089-X

Web links

Commons : Saratoga - collection of images, videos and audio files

NAVY story page about the USS Saratoga (English)
NavSource Online (English)
USS Saratoga Association (English)
Photos of the wreck Saratoga (English)

Remarks

↑ National Geographic; Issued June 1992.
↑ Bauernfeind, Ingo: Radioactive to all eternity - The fate of the Prinz Eugen . ES Mittler & Sohn, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 2011, ISBN 978-3-8132-0928-0 , p. 117 f .

[1] National Geographic; Issued June 1992.

[2] Bauernfeind, Ingo: Radioactive to all eternity - The fate of the Prinz Eugen . ES Mittler & Sohn, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 2011, ISBN 978-3-8132-0928-0 , p. 117 f .