Carrier SARATOGA’s sad final journey begins

SARATOGA being prepared for towing on Aug. 21 at Newport, Rhode Island. (US Navy photo by Lindsay Church)

SARATOGA being prepared for towing on Aug. 21 at Newport, Rhode Island. (US Navy photo by Lindsay Church)

First the FORRESTAL, then the CONSTELLATION, now the SARATOGA. Classic aircraft carriers known to generations of sailors and airmen, technological marvels of the 1950s and 1960s, languishing in layup for many years, all meeting their end in south Texas.

The last of the three to begin the journey is the SARATOGA (CV 60), towed out Thursday, Aug. 21, from Newport, Rhode Island, bound for a scrapyard in Brownsville, Texas. Long a fixture in Coddington Cove near the Naval War College, the ship was the last of three behemoths that the Navy once stored here — for a time, the FORRESTAL (CV 59) and battleship IOWA (BB 61) were berthed here for lack of good space elsewhere.

The IOWA lives on, now a museum attraction in San Pedro, California at the Port of Los Angeles, The FORRESTAL, latterly stored in Philadelphia, was towed in February to the All Star Metals shipbreaking facility in Brownsville.

On the West Coast, the CONSTELLATION, kept at Bremerton, Washington since being decommissioned in 2003, began her long tow on Aug. 8, headed around South America — the ship is too wide to fit through the Panama Canal — and expected to arrive at International Shipbreaking in Brownsville this winter.

The SARATOGA is bound for ESCO Marine in Brownsville.

So, within a few months, all three super carriers will be within several thousand yards of each other, each being broken up by a shipbreaker working on the largest job they’ve ever had, and each one hidden from public view by security screens to protect them from prying eyes eager to discern details — still classified — of their underwater protection systems.

FORRESTAL was the first of the “super carriers” – significantly larger and more capable than all who came before her. Commissioned in 1955 as CVA 59, she became CV 59 in 1975 — when all CVAs were reclassified — and then became AVT-59 in 1992 while being converted for use as a training carrier. (The “A” auxiliary designation was necessary to allow women, still banned from combatants, to serve aboard.) She was decommissioned and stricken in September 1993.

SARATOGA was next, commissioned in 1956. She decommissioned in 1994.

CONSTELLATION was commissioned in 1961, serving until 2003.

Before these three, the largest warship ever scrapped anywhere was the World War II-built CORAL SEA (CV 43).

Scroll all the way down to see these great ladies in their prime.

The oceangoing tug SIGNET WARHORSE III begins hauling SARA away from Newport.  (US Navy photo by Lindsay Church)

The oceangoing tug SIGNET WARHORSE III begins hauling SARA away from Newport. (US Navy photo by Lindsay Church)

Onlookers get a last look at the ship.  (US Navy photo by Lindsay Church)

Onlookers get a last look at the ship. (US Navy photo by Lindsay Church)

Passing under the Newport Bridge and headed to sea.  (US Navy photo by Lindsay Church)

SARATOGA passing under the Newport Bridge and headed to sea. (US Navy photo by Lindsay Church)

SARATOGA at Coddington's Cove on Feb. 22, 2014. (Photo by Christopher P. Cavas)

SARATOGA at Coddington Cove on Feb. 22, 2014. (Photo by Christopher P. Cavas)

SARATOGA on June 18, 2014. The ship had been a fixture at Naval Station Newport for more than a decade. (Photo by Christopher P. Cavas)

SARATOGA on June 18, 2014. The ship had been a fixture at Naval Station Newport for more than a decade. (Photo by Christopher P. Cavas)

The FORRESTAL under tow on June 15, 2010, while being moved from Newport to Philadelphia. (US Navy photo by MC1 Jorge Morales)

The FORRESTAL under tow on June 15, 2010, while being moved from Newport to Philadelphia. (US Navy photo by MC1 Jorge Morales)

CONSTELLATION under tow from Bremerton on Aug. 8, 2014. (US Navy photo by MCCS Eric Harrison)

CONSTELLATION under tow from Bremerton on Aug. 8, 2014. (US Navy photo by MCCS Eric Harrison)

Connie will take months to reach South Texas, having to journey all the way around South America. (US Navy photo by MCCS Eric Harrison)

Connie will take months to reach South Texas, having to journey all the way around South America. (US Navy photo by MCCS Eric Harrison)

 GLORY DAYS 

FORRESTAL underway in the Mediterranean Sea on 29 April 1957 with the Sixth Fleet, standing by during the Jordanian crisis. FID - a nickname for the carrier meaning First In Defense - awaits her turn while the oiler CALOOSAHATCHEE (AO 98) refuels the Essex-class carrier LAKE CHAMPLAIN (CVS 39) and heavy cruiser SALEM (CA 139). Four types of fighter jets -- F3H, FJ, F2H, F9F-8 -- are among the air group visible on her deck, along with A3D, AD and S2F aircraft. (US National Archives photo 80-G-K-22688 from the collection of the Naval History and Heritage Command)

FORRESTAL underway in the Mediterranean Sea on 29 April 1957 with the Sixth Fleet, standing by during the Jordanian crisis. FID – a nickname for the carrier meaning First In Defense – awaits her turn while the oiler CALOOSAHATCHEE (AO 98) refuels the Essex-class carrier LAKE CHAMPLAIN (CVS 39) and heavy cruiser SALEM (CA 139). Four types of fighter jets — F3H, FJ, F2H, F9F-8 — are among the air group visible on her deck, along with A3D, AD and S2F aircraft. (US National Archives photo 80-G-K-22688 from the collection of the Naval History and Heritage Command)

An undated shot of SARATOGA, probably from the mid/late 1980s, after her Service Life Extension Program overhaul. The SLEP fixed a number of nagging problems with the ship, whose crew began fondly referring to her as Super Sara - the name proudly displayed on her counter. (US Navy photograph)

An undated shot of SARATOGA, probably from the mid/late 1980s, after her Service Life Extension Program overhaul. The SLEP fixed a number of nagging problems with the ship, whose crew began fondly referring to her as Super Sara – the name proudly displayed at her stern. (US Navy photograph)

CONSTELLATION at war, steaming in the Persian Gulf on 10 April 2003 while operating in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. (US Navy photo by PH3 Kristi Earl)

CONSTELLATION at war, steaming in the Persian Gulf on 10 April 2003 while operating in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. (US Navy photo by PH3 Kristi Earl)

 

Christopher P. Cavas
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Christopher P. Cavas

If it's on, over, under or around the water, I write about it. Ships and aircraft, units, tactics, leadership, strategies, acquisition, politics, industry. In the USA and around the world.
Christopher P. Cavas
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