Saratoga sailed into the Norwegian Sea and participated in Operation Strikeback, joint naval maneuvers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries.

[7] The fire, believed caused by a ruptured fuel oil line, was brought under control by the crew, and the ship proceeded to Athens, Greece, where a survey of the damage could be made.

The ship continued on its patrol mission with reduced steam generation capability, returning to the U.S. as scheduled to offload its air group before going to repair.

Immediately after entering the Med, Saratoga was deployed to the eastern Mediterranean during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, where her medical facility was used to treat survivors of the Israeli attack on USS Liberty.

[8] In January 1966 planes from the Saratoga rescued 5 survivors of Haitian Air Force DC-3 crash that killed four member of the United Nations mission to Haiti.

[9] During the return voyage in early December 1967, Saratoga spent several days in a fierce Atlantic storm, which caused heavy damage to external catwalks on the flight deck, garbage chute, and boat sponsons.

On 31 January 1969, she departed Philadelphia for Guantanamo, via Hampton Roads and Mayport, and extensive refresher training of the crew and air detachments.

[3] On 17 May 1969, Armed Forces Day, she was the host ship for President Richard Nixon during the firepower demonstration conducted by Carrier Air Wing Three in the Virginia Capes area.

She operated with Task Group 60.2 of the Sixth Fleet in the eastern Mediterranean during September in a "show of force" in response to the large build-up of Soviet surface units there, the hijacking of a Trans World Airlines plane to Syria and the political coup in Libya.

That night, word was received that Gamal Abdel Nasser, President of the United Arab Republic had died; an event that might plunge the entire Middle East into a crisis.

The presidential party departed the ship the next evening, and Saratoga continued on patrol in the eastern Mediterranean until she sailed for the United States on 2 November.

She then operated off the Florida coast until 7 June when she departed for her eleventh deployment with the Sixth Fleet, via Scotland and the North Sea where she participated in exercise "Magic Sword II."

Saratoga's planes attacked targets ranging from enemy troop concentrations in the lower panhandle to petroleum storage areas northeast of Hanoi.

On 6 August, LT Jim Lloyd of Attack Squadron VA-105, flying an A-7 Corsair on a bombing mission near Vinh, had his plane shot out from under him by a SAM.

[3] In the beginning of 1975, Saratoga took part in the Locked Gate-75, a NATO operation meant to contain the influence of the Portuguese Communist Party in Portugal after the Carnation Revolution.

Then-commanding officer, CAPT James H. Flatley III, made naval aviation history on 21 June 1980 when he completed his 1,500th carrier arrested landing.

On 28 September 1980, only one month after her return from deployment, Saratoga departed Mayport and headed north to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard where she underwent the most extensive industrial overhaul ever performed on any Navy ship.

An Italian luxury liner, Achille Lauro, on a pleasure cruise departing from Alexandria, was hijacked by terrorists from the Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF).

[12] On 23 March 1986, while operating off coast of Libya, aircraft from the carriers Saratoga, Coral Sea and America crossed what Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi had called the "Line of Death."

[14] The Tomcat pilot, Timothy W. Dorsey, was duly disciplined and permanently removed from flying status,[15] but was recommended for promotion to rear admiral 25 years later.

Dorsey also served for years as USA Discounters' general counsel and vice president, and has been the Virginia-based company's public voice as it came under fire for its frequent targeting of service members in wage-garnishment lawsuits.

[16][17][18] Following Saratoga's 19th Mediterranean deployment in June 1987, she was overhauled once again at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia, at a cost of $280 million.

[21] Saratoga-based US Navy SEALs conducted the first wartime boardings of merchant shipping in the Red Sea in support of Operation Desert Shield.

VADM T. Joseph Lopez of the United States Navy led the "Brown Forces", which included Saratoga, with Commander Cruiser-Destroyer Group 8 embarked.

The opposing "Green Forces", including the Turkish destroyer minelayer TCG Muavenet, former USS Gwin (DM-33), were under the direct control of Admiral Kroon of the Netherlands.

[22]While all the ships had a break (green period) and stationed off the coast, on 30 September 1992 the combat direction center tactical action officer (TAO) aboard Saratoga decided to launch a simulated attack on nearby opposition forces utilizing the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missile system.

Without providing prior notice, officers on Saratoga woke the enlisted Sea Sparrow missile team and directed them to conduct the simulated attack.

Jacksonville civic leaders attempted to raise funds, but the fundraising campaign, "Save Our Sara", fell short of the $3 million goal.

This severely limited the city's available funding and support of the "Save Our Sara" effort to bring Saratoga back to her home port.

[26][27] On 21 August 2014, Saratoga departed Naval Station Newport and made its way down Narragansett Bay to the Atlantic Ocean, en route to the Esco Marine ship recycling plant in Brownsville, Texas.