U.S.S. Saratoga torpedoed on this date in 1942

The U.S.S. Saratoga was one of our first fast aircraft carriers. She was converted while building from a World War I design battlecruiser under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. In the years before World War II the Saratoga was distinguished from her sister ship and class leader Lexington by a large black vertical stripe down her funnel and was known as "Stripe-Stacked Sara."

On January 11, 1942 the U.S.S. Saratoga was hit by a single torpedo from the Japanese submarine I-6. She limped into Pearl Harbor where a temporary patch was applied, then went to the U.S. West Coast for more extensive repairs and modifications. These included the replacement of the 8" guns by the more efficient 5"/38 guns that doubled as antiaircraft weapons.

Saratoga arrived at Pearl Harbor just too late for the Battle of Midway in June 1942, fought in the Solomons campaign later that year when she was torpedoed again by another Japanese submarine, helped the British Far Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean in 1944, and was damaged by kamikazes off Japan in 1945. She was sunk by atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in 1946 and today is a popular destination for scuba divers.

Pearl Harbor day

As I write this, America was still at peace sixty-nine years ago. Oh, we had been supplying arms to Britain for a while. Our destroyers had been escorting convoys as far as Iceland. One of them had even been sunk by a U-boat. In a few hours that would change. I don't really think Roosevelt intended two thousand Americans to die as an excuse to enter the war, but I could be wrong. Politicians can be incredibly devious.

I never read the conspiracy books about the attack on Pearl Harbor, but as a boy I did read much about the attack. I memorized incredible amounts of information about the ships, aircraft and people involved that I still remember to this day. My family went to Hawaii and visited the U.S.S. Arizona memorial (among other places).

My knowledge of military trivia helped me find a place to stay after I moved to Oregon. My friend Dana and I met an elderly man at a public dinner who joked about having drunk enough alcohol in his life to float the U.S.S. Arizona. I mentioned that she had been 608 feet long and a conversation ensued. He had been born in 1917, grew up in Hawaii, and had stood on the deck of that battleship as a civilian guest when it was actively representing the U.S. Navy.

In spite of his jocular comment Henry was not a drunk but a very intelligent and active senior citizen. He had held a position of responsibility during the war that involved the hiring of workers for the Pearl Harbor shipyard. Dana and I were allowed to stay in his barn for several months until we finally found a house to move into. So far as I know, that is the only time any of my tremendous knowledge of military trivia has been of advantage to me.

Let us remember the people who died this day sixty-nine years ago. By the way, I still can't watch the 2001 Pearl Harbor movie because it sucks so bad. I have tried more than once to watch this turkey and can never get more than twenty minutes into it before giving up in disgust. The older film Tora! Tora! Tora! is more historically accurate and in my opinion is a better movie in other ways too.