Saratoga (CV 3) - Naval Cruise Book

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During peacetime years she pio- neered in the development of Naval Aviation. Experiments conducted on her expansive flight deck proved the power of the aircraft carrier as a new weapon of war. Sara and the old Lex demonstrated our Hawaiian bases were vulnerable to air attack by pre- viewing the Pearl 1-larbor disaster in 1935 during the fleet war games-six years before the laps proved the theory! When commissioned, Sara's official- ly announced displacement was 33,000 tons, but much has been added since 1927. We,who manned her guns in bat- tle,, launched her angry planes on countless strikes, swabbed her decks, cooked the chow, and performed nu- merous other vital tasks, will remember her as the largest warship in the Pacific -Queen of 'em all! No carrier could match her fighting weight of over 50,000 tons, and not even the newest battle- ships could compare in length, for Sara's rare teakwood flight deck meas- ures over 909 feet. We're proud of those figures. We are proud of her trim, grace- ful lines, too-like a greyhound. But, we are proudest of her record of achieve- ment in battle, and the dull, unspec- tacular tasks she has performed in the line of duty. lust out of the Navy Yard, she was tied up to the dock at San Diego when Pearl 1-larbor was attacked. She broke all rec- ords for provisioning ship and put to sea the following day. Arriving at Pearl the 15th of December, 1941, amid the ruins of the Pacific Fleet, Sara was given the critical assignment of delivering Ma- rine fighter planes for the beleagured defenders of Wake Island. ln less than 24 hours she was underway with the precious cargo aboard. Those planes never reached their ob- jective, however, because Wake fell December 23rd with Sara only 'one day's cruising distance away. They were transported instead to Midway, where later they helped repulse a seri- ous Iap thrust. Since the International Dateline was crossed enroute, two Christmas holidays on successive days were spent at sea. Following a return trip to Pearl 1-larbor for more planes and provisions, the ship spent the early part of lanuary, 1942, patrolling the sub-infested waters west of the Hawaiian lslands. The Sara and her planes watched for enemy sur- face craft as well as underseas marau- ders. OFF DIAMOND HEAD ' .

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0 , I 0 f N Su-X fx O Dir We call our ship Sara. Sure, it's a girlfs name, but don't let that fool you. She packs a terrific wallop! Her age makes little difference, but-just for the record-she isn't young anymore. Act- ually she isn't quite eighteen, but that is rather old for a ship, so some people call her The Old Lady. We don't mind, you understand, because it's a pet name and used with proper respect and admiration. Some say she was lucky to be one of the three pre-war aircraft carriers to sur- vive World War ll. We know it was more than thatf She was lucky, but behind that luck was teamwork and de- termination. Men shed blood in her de- fense and many gave their lives. Not willingly, of course, but like any other young, red-blooded American-fight ing! Our Saratoga is the fifth ship to bear the name. The first, a small sloop-of-war mounting 18 guns, distinguished itself in the Revolutionary War and was lost in a storm at sea. When Commodore McDonough fought the decisive Battle of Lake Champlain, the second Sara- toga, a 734-ton sloop, was flagship of his fleet. Later, the sturdy vessel was sold by the government. V Saratoga lll was a l,UUO-ton sloop mounting 22 guns. She accompanied Commodore Perry's expedition to lapan and thus was one of the first American ships to sail into Tokyo Bay. Next in the gallant line was an 8130- I . Wt' it ,. 31' 'TT J its fir!-- L ' J Qrff- . .9 X P li P Ns J ton armored cruiser which served as Admiral Sampson's flagship during the Spanish-American War. The might and power of our Sara would dwarf that of all previous Sara- togas combined. But, the inspiration of a fighting tradition was handed down to their namesake and kept alive in manifold measure by Saratoga V- Sara. Originally designed as a battle cruiser during the first World War, she was converted to a gigantic aircraft car- rier as a result of the London Disarma- ment Conference and the Washington Treaty. Her keel had been laid as a battle cruiser as early as l92O. Most of her underwater armor was retained in the conversion process, as Well as her turbo-electric engineering plant, the largest marine unit in the world. Launched in l925 at the New York Ship Building Company's Camden yard, she was put in commission November l6, l927. Officially she was designated CV-3. The old Langley was CV -l, and Sara's sister, the old Lexington, was CV-2. Captain l-larry E. Yarnell, the first skipper, guided her through the Pana- ma Canal to her new home on the West Coast. After trials and experiments she joined the Pacific Fleet in 1928.

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Early at night on the llth of Ianuary as Sara was silhouetted by Venus 400 miles west of Hawaii, a Tap submarine managed to sneak into the formation and launched a deadly torpedo which struck the port quarter with a blinding flash and terrific explosion. Columns of water and oil shot skyward as high as the smokestack. The Cld Lady had suf- fered her first battle scar! Six men died as a result of the tor- pedoing. Fortunately, the engineering plant was not damaged, so she was able to steam to Pearl Harbor under her own power. There a temporary patch of steel was applied to her ruptured skin, and she was sent to Bremerton, Wash- ington, for repairs. Almost three months were spent in the Puget Sound Navy Yard. Perma- nent repairs were made and a thorough modernization was effected. Light anti- aircraft weapons were installed and gun sponsons added. Late in May, 1942, Sara docked at San Diego and loaded planes and sup- plies aboard. The Battle of Midway was pending as she sped west toward the combat zone. lt was a fearful juncture in the war. The Allies despaired at the heavy toll of shipping in the Atlantic, at the sustained successes of Rommel in Africa, and at the overwhelming armor ., ,.... .........,..,.. .,,..., .....,-..... - .. v. --...,... -- .,.. ,W H , A Y .W ...A Y- - ---'-A--r r' 1:1-' 1, ' THE NEW TBF FIRST LAUNCHED FROM SARA'S FLIGHT DECK IN JUNE I942 of the German Army slashing across to Crimea and into the Caucasus. ln the Pacific, we looked with dismay on the fall of l-long Kong, Singapore, the Philip- pines, the East lndies, the threat to Aus- tralia and India, the presence of enemy garrisons in the Aleutians, the immi- nent invasion of Alaska, Midway, Ha- waii. The Lexington was at the bottom of the Coral Sea, and no man could say where the next grievous blow would fall. ln less than 24 hours at Pearl Harbor, the Sara loaded replacement planes for U. S. carriers staving off the Tap fleet at Midway. lncluded were a handful of the new TBF's, replacements for famed Torpedo Squadron Eight. Sara thereby had the distinction of being the first car- rier to launch the new Grumman Plane, which soon became the standby of the fleet. Arriving too late. actually to engage