On 6 April 2000, a tour was conducted of the ex-USS SARATOGA at her temporary location pierside at Coddington Cove, Naval Station Newport. This was one of a series of tours requested from and authorized by NAVSEA "to assist the USS Saratoga Museum Foundation, Inc. in preparation of the application for custody of the ship. Community support is an essential element of that application, and this tour was in furtherance of that goal." The tour allowed for a graphic portrayal of the many opportunities (and the challenges) that the transformation of Saratoga will bring to state of Rhode Island and the surrounding communities.

Attendees included Major General Reginald Centracchio, Rhode Island Adjutant General; LTC Louis Abbenante, Plans and Operations Officer, RI National Guard; Command Sergeant Major Jack Ryan, RI National Guard; Ronald Patalano, General Manager, Quonset/Davisville Park; Kevin Barry, Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation; William J. Devaney, Exeter Town Council; Ken Fernstrom, Town of Exeter; Jay Gowell and Joseph White, bond counsel, Peabody & Arnold. Also attending were Raymond Patrylak, VF-31 Association; Ruthann Baker, business teacher, North Kingstown High School; Richard Nelson, Waste Management Corporation; Dale Grogan, North Kingstown Town Council; James Grogan, restaurant manager and Advisory Council member; Captain Mike Landers USN (Ret), former Chief Engineer on SARATOGA; and Gordon Udall, Quonset Air Museum board member and former Naval Aviator.

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Starting the tour. The group assembled in the hangar deck, a sharp contrast from the sunny, albeit brisk and blustery, day just outside.
Inside the hangar deck. Part of the deck has been cut away, revealing a glimpse into the warren of compartments below decks.
Educational and training opportunities. A view of one of the galley spaces encountered during the tour.
Educational and training opportunities. Mike Landers (r) explains some of the capabilities available in one of the SARATOGA machine shops to General Centracchio (center) and the tour group. Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) requirements and compliance issues with regards to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) were topics of discussion.
On the elevator. The tour continued by stepping outside on the starboard forward elevator, in the hangar deck position. Note the scale of the hangar bay opening as compared to the people standing just outside.
A view of the hull. A view forward and pierside from the starboard forward elevator.
Another view of the hangar deck, looking aft. During the tour, the point was made that when SARATOGA joins the Quonset Point/Davisville team, she will add several acres of open space to the property mix at QPD. This is particularly evident in the cavernous space of the hangar deck, and the sheer expanse of the flight deck (see images below).
Port side passageway, looking aft from Frame 69. This section of the ship was in remarkably good shape, both in appearance as well as accessibility.
On the flight deck, amidship, looking starboard to the island (the large structure in the center of the picture). Sections of the dismantled mast lay on the deck. The status of the mast with regards to reassembly and installation on the island will depend upon how much they intrude into the protected airspace of the Quonset Point airfield, which itself is several hundred yards away from Saratoga's permanent mooring location at Quonset.
Port aft, looking forward on the flight deck. There was a slight list to port caused by the recent offloading of several hundred thousand gallons of fuel from the starboard side of the ship.
Centerline aft, looking forward. Note the mast sections on the deck. The facilities of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Newport RI, are directly ahead of the ship.

Last Updated:
9/29/01