World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseSaratoga was originally laid down as a Lexington-class battlecruiser, and like her sister Lexington, she was converted to become an aircraft carrier in 1922. Because she was visually identical to Lexington, a large black stripe was painted on her funnel to help sailors differentiate her, and it led to her nickname Stripe Stacked Sara. Her conversion to carrier was completed a month before Lexington's, therefore she was the first fast carrier in the United States Navy. Her shakedown took place off Philadelphia with Marc Mitscher on board as her air officer; Mitscher was also the first pilot to land an aircraft on her flight deck. She served off Panama, in the Caribbean Sea, and in the San Diego area before WW2, contributing greatly to the development of US Navy carrier doctrine. In Mar 1938, she conducted a mock surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that was eerily similar to how the Japanese would conduct the attack three years down the road.

ww2dbaseWhen the attack on Pearl Harbor took place, Saratoga was just entering San Diego from Bremerton. With US Marine Corps aircraft intended for Wake Island, she got underway hurriedly, reaching Hawaii on 15 Dec 1941. The relief mission for Wake was cancelled on 22 Dec as Wake was already in danger of falling. She remained in the Hawaiian Islands region. On 11 Jan 1942, she was struck by a torpedo from Japanese submarine I-16; she limped back to Pearl Harbor for repairs. Her 8in guns were removed while being repairs as they were useless against enemy aircraft; they were instead installed on shore facilities.

ww2dbaseSaratoga arrived at San Diego on 22 May 1942 after repairs at Bremerton, and departed for Midway on 1 Jun. Because of the delay in loading aircraft at San Diego, she missed the action at Midway. She departed for the Aleutian Islands, but turned back after the operation was cancelled. She reached Pearl Harbor on 13 Jun.

ww2dbaseBetween 22 and 29 Jun 1942, Saratoga ferried Marine and Army aircraft to Midway. On 7 Jul, she departed for the South Pacific, conducting carrier rehearsals at Fiji at the end of the month, then participated in the Guadalcanal Campaign as the flagship of Rear Admiral Frank Fletcher in Aug 1942. On 24 Aug, at the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, Saratoga's aircraft bit the bait and attacked the light carrier Ryujo, sinking her with several 1,000-lb bombs and one torpedo. Although they were able to sink Ryujo, the actual main attack in the form of aircraft from fleet carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku attacked American carrier Enterprise; Saratoga, hiding in a squall, escaped unscathed.

ww2dbaseIn Sep 1942, Saratoga was struck by torpedo from Japanese submarine I-26 and was dead in the water. Cruiser Minneapolis towed her while her crew conducted temporary repairs. She eventually sailed to Tongatabu and then Pearl Harbor for repairs.

ww2dbaseSaratoga returned to service in Nov 1942. Until mid-1943, she provided air cover for various American operations in the Solomon Islands area. On 5 and 11 Nov 1943, her aircraft conducted devastating attacks on the Japanese base at Rabaul, disabling many cruisers and lifting threat to US forces in the region from Japanese surface ships. Later that month, she supported the invasion of Tarawa.

ww2dbaseAfter overhaul in San Francisco in Dec 1943, Saratoga returned to Pearl Harbor on 7 Jan 1944. She participated in the Marshall Islands Campaign, striking Japanese garrisons at Wotje, Taroa, and Eniwetok. In Mar, she joined the British Royal Navy Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean. The Eastern Fleet struck Sabang, Sumatra on 19 Apr and Soerabaja, Java on 17 May, with her aircraft contributing significantly to the success of both missions. She returned to Bremerton, Washington for overhaul in Jun 1944, then trained night fighter squadrons at Pearl harbor from Sep 1944 to Jan 1945.

ww2dbaseOn 29 Jan 1945, Saratoga set sail from Pearl Harbor for Iwo Jima. After landing rehearsals with Marine aircraft on 12 Feb off Tinian, her aircraft struck the Japanese home islands on 16 and 17 Feb. Her aircraft attacked Japanese positions on Iwo Jima and Chichi Jima. On 21 Feb, six Japanese aircraft scored five hits on Saratoga, damaging her flight deck and starting several fires. A second wave of attack two hours later scored another hit. By 2015 that evening, the fires were under control, and temporary repairs to the flight deck allowed it to function again. She returned to Bremerton for repairs in Mar.

ww2dbaseIn Jun 1945, Saratoga trained pilots at Pearl Harbor. She remained there until the end of the war.

ww2dbaseAfter the war, Saratoga participated in Operation Magic Carpet that brought American servicemen back to the United States; she brought home 29,204 men, more than any other ship in the operation. As she became obsolete after the war, she was used as a target at Bikini Atoll for the Operation Crossroads atomic bomb tests. She survived the first blast on 1 Jul 1946, but the second test conducted on 25 Jul sank her.

Aircraft Carrier Saratoga Interactive Map

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Saratoga Operational Timeline

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32.  David Stubblebine says:
29 May 2016 02:03:20 PM

Hugh Perryman:
The Saratoga did not make it to the Battle for Okinawa. The attack you describe was probably the attack off Iwo Jima on 21 Feb 1945. In that attack, six Japanese aircraft landed five bombs on Saratoga’s flight deck, starting several fires. She was further damaged two hours later in a second attack. Saratoga sailed for Puget Sound for repairs and spent the rest of the war in Hawaiian waters in a training role, which overlapped the Battle for Okinawa.

40.  David Stubblebine says:
22 Dec 2016 05:52:25 PM

Mr. Workman (above):
Saratoga World War II Muster Rolls do not list a Jake Workman or a Jacob Workman but they do list a John Biglow Workman, service number 355 91 01, who enlisted 15 Jan 1935 in Dallas, Texas and reported aboard Saratoga 11 Jun 1935. The best way to learn about your great grandfather’s service is to request his service record. See: https://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records.

55.  David Stubblebine says:
27 Oct 2019 11:58:45 AM

Paul (above):
Saratoga Muster Rolls say Seaman William Paul Capozzoli, service number 822 86 71 who enlisted 29 Jul 1943 at Altoona, PA, was received aboard Saratoga on 14 Dec 1943 from Shoemaker receiving barracks (Dublin, Calif) while Saratoga was at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco. He appears in Saratoga’s quarterly Muster Rolls until he was transferred off on 7 Sep 1945 for temporary duty with Fleet Air Wing 2 at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. The Muster Rolls do not say how long he was there or where he went next. The best source of information about his service is his service record. See https://ww2db.com/faq/#3.

57.  David Stubblebine says:
20 Nov 2019 03:46:00 PM

Jim Brown (above):
There are several public records of your father serving aboard Saratoga, unfortunately the best ones are not on the internet. Sara’s Muster Rolls can be viewed at Fold3.com but the very best source of information would be his service record, which is still a paper document stored at the National Archives (see https://ww2db.com/faq/#3 for a link on how to order a copy). The Muster Rolls, however, showed Storekeeper 2nd-class Melvin Roland Brown, service number 663 62 12, came aboard Saratoga 22 Oct 1942 at Pearl Harbor and transferred off 13 Jul 1945 also at Pearl Harbor.