¹⁄350

1:350 USS Saratoga CV-3

1:350 uss saratoga

Here’s Martin J Quinn’s (MartinJQuinn) backdating/conversion of the Trumpeter 1:350 Lexington to a 1939/1940 era USS Saratoga.

The island (except for the spotting top) and 8 inch guns are resin copies from BWN Lexington. The photo-etch is a combination of the GMM Lexington and the YMW Back-date sets. Planes are ISW and Trumpeter (TBD's only).

Martin ended up buying the YMW backdate set too - but just for the PE (and ended up using a couple of the resin parts too). The regular PE was Gold Medal - he used it on his Lexington build and it's a great set.

The Air Wing is composed by 3 Buffalos, 3 Helldivers, 3 Vindicators and 6 Devastators. The ISW planes are rough, but workable.

The flight deck was easy - Martin just cut it to match the curve of the hull and sanded it flush!

The model was delivered to the Battleship New Jersey Museum on Wednesday November 2, 2005. It will be part of a display highlighting ships built at the now defunct New York Shipbuilding Corporation.

NYSC was located a few hundred feet downriver from where the NJ museum is located.

history and details

The fifth Saratoga (CV 3) was laid down on 25 September 1920 as Battle Cruiser #3 by the New York Shipbuilding Co., Camden, N.J.; ordered converted to an aircraft carrier and reclassified CV-3 on 1 July 1922 in accordance with the Washington Treaty limiting naval armaments. The ship was launched on 7 April 1925, sponsored by Mrs. Curtis D. Wilbur, wife of the Secretary of the Navy; and commissioned on 16 November 1927, Capt. Harry E. Yarnell in command.

Saratoga, the first fast carrier in the United States Navy, quickly proved the value of her type. She sailed from Philadelphia on 6 January 1928 for shakedown, and, on 11 January, her air officer, the future World War II hero, Marc A. Mitscher, landed the first aircraft on board. In an experiment on 27 January, the rigid airship Los Angeles (ZR-3) moored to Saratoga's stern and took on fuel and stores. The same day Saratoga sailed for the Pacific via the Panama Canal. She was diverted briefly between 14 and 16 February to carry Marines to Corinto, Nicaragua, and finally joined the Battle Fleet at San Pedro, Calif., on 21 February. The rest of the year was spent in training and final machinery shakedown.

Please check the online resources link to read about her full history and for some extraordinary pictures

Displacement: 33,000 tons
Length: 888 feet
Beam: 106 feet
Draft: 24 feet 1½ inches
Speed: 33.91 knots
Complement: 2111 crew
Armament: 8 eight-inch and 12 five-inch guns, and 4 six-pounders
Aircraft: 81
Class: Lexington

online resources

http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/carriers/histories/cv03-saratoga/cv03-saratoga.html