The USS Saratoga (CV-60) was the second of four Forrestal-class supercarriers and was a key U.S. Navy aircraft carrier during the Cold War, serving from 1956 to 1994. She was named after the famous Revolutionary War battle site.
The Saratoga was the second aircraft carrier to carry its name.
The first one, USS Saratoga (CV-3), was a Lexington-class aircraft carrier built for the US Navy during the 1920s. Originally designed as a battlecruiser, she was converted to a carrier in the late 1920s and helped pioneer naval aviation.
During World War II, she was torpedoed twice in the early years of the war, during campaigns in the Solomon Islands. She fought her way across the Pacific and carried troops home during Operation Magic Carpet after the Japanese surrender.
The later USS Saratoga (CV-60) was a powerful symbol of American air power, monitoring global events, conducting training with NATO allies, enforcing no-fly zones, and participating in combat during the Vietnam War and the Gulf War.
The supercarrier hosted Presidents Nixon and Eisenhower and weighed 81,101 tons fully loaded. She measured 1,067 feet overall, carried a 129.5-foot waterline beam, and drew 37 feet.
USS Saratoga Dropped 4,047,000 Pounds of Ordnance on Iraq and Transited the Suez Canal Six Times. Saddam Hussein Announced on Television That She Had Been Sunk.
Meet The USS Saratoga (CV-60)
Commissioned in 1956, CV-60 was the second Forrestal-class carrier, notable for its angled flight deck, which allowed for simultaneous launch and recovery of jet aircraft, and for being significantly larger than previous carriers.
The USS Saratoga was the first carrier to use eight Babcock & Wilcox boilers, which fed four Westinghouse geared turbines driving four shafts.
The machinery produced 280,000 shaft horsepower and pushed the carrier to a top speed of 33 knots.
The Saratoga carried eight 5-inch/54-caliber Mark 42 guns. Modernization removed them and added three Mark 29 Sea Sparrow launchers and three Phalanx close-in weapon systems. Her real offensive power came from the air wing, which carried about 90 aircraft.
Those aircraft carried AIM-7 Sparrow, AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missiles; AGM-88 HARM and AGM-84 Harpoon missiles; general-purpose and laser-guided bombs; Rockeye cluster weapons and torpedoes.
USS Saratoga (CVA-60). Creative Commons Image.
The exact armament carried in her magazines changed depending upon the deployment.
From 1958 through 1967, the Saratoga would spend at least part of the year in the Mediterranean.
President Eisenhower and members of his cabinet spent two days onboard the ship to observe carrier operations, air operations, antisubmarine warfare, guided missile operations, and the Navy’s latest bombing and strafing techniques.
The highlight of the demonstration was the Saratoga receiving a flight of Vought F-8 Crusaders from the Bon Homme Richard in the Pacific to the Saratoga in the Atlantic. The flight took just three and a half hours.
The carrier was a central feature of projecting U.S. naval power. Her missions included deploying to volatile regions like the Mediterranean to demonstrate American strength.
USS Saratoga (CVA-60). Creative Commons Image.
Tracking potential adversaries, particularly Soviet naval and air power. Participating in exercises with NATO allies. Enforcing No-Fly Zones, where she was tasked with monitoring the skies over the former Yugoslavia.
The USS Saratoga During the Vietnam War
CV-60 deployed to the Vietnam conflict, arriving at “Yankee Station” on May 18, 1972.
During the year, she spent a total of seven line periods on station, beginning on May 18, 1972, and departing the area on January 7, 1973, where her aircraft flew thousands of combat missions and shot down three enemy MiGs.
The Saratoga lost four aircraft and three pilots to SAMs while conducting massive airstrikes in North Vietnam during Operation Linebacker.
On August 6, a Navy pilot was shot down over North Vietnam, and the Saratoga’s search and rescue teams flew a daring mission to recover the pilot, Lt. Jim Lloyd.
During the hijacking of the liner Achille Lauro, fighters from the Saratoga forced the hijackers to land at Sicily after they were given a jet in Egypt. During the mid-1980s, strike aircraft (A-6Es and A-7s) struck targets in Libya.
The First Gulf War (Desert Shield/Storm) Defeating Iraq
Saratoga took part in the air campaign against Iraq, launching 11,000 sorties in both defensive and offensive air missions.
Saratoga, along with embarked airwing CVW-17, participated in Operation Desert Storm, primarily in the Red Sea.
However, before the outbreak of hostilities in Iraq, Saratoga suffered a loss of 21 crewmembers in a ferry boat accident off the coast of Haifa, Israel.
During the war’s air operations, Saratoga set several records that were, at the time, unprecedented. She completed six transits of the Suez Canal and completed approximately 11,000 aircraft launch and recovery cycles.
The Saratoga’s air wing delivered 4,047,000 pounds of ordnance and flew 2,694 combat missions.
Saddam Hussein claimed on Iraqi television that Saratoga had been sunk, along with several other Coalition vessels.
Iraq did fire one Scud missile in the general direction of Saratoga in the Red Sea, but it would miss by more than 100 nautical miles (200 km).
Lt. Cmdr. Scott Speicher was killed when his F/A-18C was shot down over Iraq. Another notable Saratoga aircraft shot down was an A-6E Intruder.
Bombardier/Navigator LT Jeffrey Zaun was paraded before cameras by his Iraqi captors and was forced by torture to repeat anti-war sentiments, but was eventually returned to American forces and was able to return to the Saratoga
A Bad Collision, Accidents and Upgrades
During her service, she experienced several incidents, including a major fire in 1961, a collision in 1960 with a German freighter off the coast of North Carolina, and another minor one in 1978.
The Saratoga also underwent upgrades, including the integration of advanced aircraft like the F-14 Tomcat and the S-3 Viking.
The USS Saratoga (CV-60) was decommissioned in 1994, following a distinguished career that spanned nearly four decades, encompassing the Cold War and beyond.
After several attempts to raise funds to convert her into a museum ship, she was scrapped. This wasn’t complete until 2019.
However, both of Saratoga’s anchors were reused on the 1998-commissioned USS Harry S. Truman, so its legacy lives on.
About the Author: Steve Balestrieri
Steve Balestrieri is a National Security Columnist. He served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer. In addition to writing on defense, he covers the NFL for PatsFans.com and is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA). His work was regularly featured in many military publications.
