Aircraft carrier Saratoga headed for scrap

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) - Another Navy aircraft carrier is headed for a scrap yard in Brownsville.

The Navy has awarded a contract - for one cent - to ESCO Marine of Brownsville to dismantle the decommissioned carrier USS Saratoga.

The Brownsville Herald reports (https://bit.ly/SQAQou ) the ship, now at Newport, Rhode Island, will be towed this summer to Brownsville.

The Saratoga was decommissioned in 1994 after nearly 40 years of service, including tours in Vietnam and involvement in the first Iraq War.

Another Brownsville scrap firm has a contract to take apart the USS Forrestal, which arrived at the port in February.

The Forrestal was the first of the so-called American “super carriers.” Saratoga was the second.

The Navy says it tried unsuccessfully to donate the ship for a public display or as a museum.

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Information from: The Brownsville Herald, https://www.brownsvilleherald.com