MK-FLM-081 USS SARATOGA (CV-3)

The USS Saratoga (CV-3) was an American aircraft carrier laid down in 1920, launched in April 1925, and commissioned with the US Navy in October 1927. The ship was 270.7 m long, 32.3 m wide, and her full displacement was 43,800 tons. The maximum speed of the USS Saratoga aircraft carrier was around 32-33 knots, and its main armament consisted of 78 on-board planes. Originally, the USS Saratoga, like another US carrier - USS Lexington - was built as a battlecruiser. However, due to the disarmament obligations imposed on the US Navy by the Washington Treaty, it was decided to finish the ship as an aircraft carrier. A specific remnant of the originally planned USS Lexington function was the strong on-board armament consisting of, among others: 8 203 mm guns. The new aircraft carrier turned out to be the second great ship of this type in the history of the American Navy. In the interwar period, the aircraft carrier served primarily in the Pacific Fleet, playing a significant role in improving the tactics of the use of aircraft by the US Navy. At the time of Hawaii's outbreak. In January 1942, the aircraft carrier was seriously damaged by a Japanese submarine, and the damage turned out to be so serious that it took many months to repair it, making it impossible to participate in the battles in the Coral Sea and Midway. The ship returned to the line in mid-June 1942 and in the same year supported the American forces fighting in the Gudalcanal. In November 1943, he took part in the attack on the Japanese base in Rabaul, and later took part in the battles in the area of the Gilbert Islands, and in early 1944 - fought in the area of the Marshall Islands. Then he was transported to the Indian Ocean, where he cooperated with the Royal Navy. He took part in the fighting on Iwo-Jima, where in February 1945 he was seriously damaged. The ship had to return to the United States, and the repair of the ship dragged on until the end of May of the same year. USS Saratoga lived to see the end of the war as one of the most distinguished ships of the US Navy. It was sunk in July 1946 at Bikini Atoll as part of an underwater nuclear test.