Saratoga is a stronger representative conversion carrier than HMS Furious because her former battlecruiser hull makes the design transition easier to read. Her extensive Second World War service would have supported exhibits on numerous operations and battles. The United States had other possible target ships for its atomic tests, including captured German and Japanese vessels. Using Saratoga for the tests therefore appears as an avoidable loss of a ship with substantial museum value.
Notable Point · 53:08-55:59
USS Saratoga: battlecruiser conversion and nuclear-test victim
USS Saratoga could have shown visitors both an early American battlecruiser design and a major conversion carrier, but was used in a postwar nuclear test.