USS Saratoga (CVA 60) was commissioned April 14, 1956

The USS Saratoga, the legendary aircraft carrier that played a key role in the
Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam and Gulf wars, is destined for dismantling after
the Navy paid one penny to a Texas firm to recycle the 81,101-ton behemoth.

The once-mighty vessel is the second of three conventionally-powered carriers
to set to sail to the scrapyard, following another one-cent deal involving the
Forrestal in October. ESCO Marine, of Brownsville, will pay to tow, dismantle 
and recycle the ship, which was decommissioned in 1994 after more than 38
years of service. Efforts to spare the ship failed, as they did with the Forrestal
last year.