Posted on 05/05/2010 8:25:54 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The navy has scuttled plans to make the USS Saratoga a museum in favor of another more modern aircraft carrier, the USS John F. Kennedy.
The Saratoga, now docked in Newport, R.I., will almost certainly be scrapped.
Six ships have been named Saratoga in American naval history – three sailing ships from the Revolution, War of 1812 and Civil War, respectively, a cruiser and two aircraft carriers.
"Every ship named Saratoga has had a strong presence in the history of this nation," said Larry Gordon of Wilton, the unofficial USS Saratoga historian. "It isn’t like we’re losing the ship. You can’t destroy the history."
The latest Saratoga was launched in 1956 and decommissioned in 1994 after serving in Desert Storm.
"In its time, the Saratoga was the big bad boy out there," Gordon said. "It’s always been there."
(Excerpt) Read more at saratogian.com ...
The heroic old girl deserves a port in the USA, not a Chinese scrap yard.
The carrier I served on was the Coral Sea. One day in the mid 90’s I was driving thru Baltimore and looked over to that familiar 43...what a shock to see her being cut up for scrap.
Was the XO of the Marine Detachment - a grunt in a sea of Naval Aviators. I came aboard with little respect for ‘wing wipers’, but all that changed when I spent some time on the LSO platform one night. Landing a jet on that deck at night takes an awful lot of skill and courage. I have had high regard for Naval Aviators ever since.
Semper Fi,
loses
You’re right. Sorry! Fingers took over from brain.
I was on the old Fletcher Class Destroyer, USS Ingersoll, DD652. Yep, I’m an old fart....LOL. The worst duty I ever had was shore duty. I loved the sea and that ship but didn’t realize it until I got off. I was in Sonar and a staff driver for the Capatain.
Thanks for the information – even if it is bad. I was a Supply Corps Officer onboard her in the 1970s. I’ll miss her.
I do hope that the name “USS Saratoga” will continue to live on in a new ship and that she will serve this great country as well as the others did.
My only contact with the Saratoga was during war games in the Med in 1992. We had just sunk them for the third time (simulated) when they shot a Turkish Destroyer with a live Sea Sparrow. Captain decided we should go hang out somewhere else for a while.
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