Saratoga arrived at Pearl on December 15, 1941, was damaged in January, repaired but sent for upgrade at Bremerton, Washington.
She missed returning to Pearl in time for Midway by a few days, but doubtless could have been there sooner, if the need were more urgent.
chimera: "Would Halsey have risked going up against Yamamoto with only two carriers?"
Of course, Halsey would have used whatever he had available, but that could have included other carriers had they been more desperately needed -- Saratoga & Wasp were readily available sooner.
Also, Ranger & Long Island could have been considered for Pacific duty under more desperate circumstances.
By the way, we should well remember that Midway was a very close fought battle, easily, easily could have gone the other way absent what I consider Divine intervention (aka: luck).
Indeed, it's as "luck" as anything that US losses on December 7 were so relatively light, and successes in 1942 so amazing.
chimera: "Losing one or two carriers at Pearl Harbor might have made it an even dicer situation, more so than it already was."
Agreed.
Yes, it was very close, and luck and/or divine intervention swung a dicey situation our way. That in no way is meant to detract from the bravery and audaciousness of our officers and pilots and enlisted men. Our losses among torpedo planes were staggering, but as luck (fate) would have it, they drew off the Japanese fighter cover and made it possible for the dive bombers to come in more or less unchallenged. Catching Nagumo’s carriers in between recovering planes from bombing Midway and re-arming for the strike against Spruance was fortuitous almost beyond belief. And Nimitz going after the Hiryu after he had clobbered the first three Japanese carriers showed a tenaciousness and willingness to take risks to deliver a knockout blow, which he did, at least as far as the Midway operation was concerned.