USS Saratoga (CV-60) 1985-86 Cruise Sweatshirt

The USS Saratoga (CV-60) was a Forrestal-class aircraft carrier commissioned on April 14, 1956, and homeported at Naval Station Mayport, Florida. Named for the 1777 Battles of Saratoga that brought France into the Revolutionary War and helped secure American independence. The 1985-86 Mediterranean deployment became one of the most operationally significant of Saratoga's career. In October 1985, her embarked F-14 Tomcats intercepted the Egyptian Boeing 737 carrying the hijackers of the cruise ship Achille Lauro and forced it to land at NAS Sigonella, Italy — a dramatic counterterrorism operation that electrified the world. This sweatshirt honors the crew who made that history during the 1985-86 cruise.