[[Kantai Collection]] character. The personification of the USS [i]Saratoga[/i] (CV-3) of the [i]Lexington[/i]-class aircraft carriers. Character design by [[Shizuma Yoshinori]]. Voiced by [[Itou Shizuka]].

h4. Appearance

Saratoga wears an [[impossible_clothes|impossibly form-fitting]] [[white dress]] with [[breast_pocket|breast pockets]] over her [[large breasts]], a [[red neckerchief]] and [[anchor]] around her neck, [[red_legwear|red]] [[thighhighs]] with [[garter straps]], a [[belt]], [[high heels]], and a [[hair ornament]] fashioned like a ship's [[smokestack]]. She has [[grey_eyes|grey]] or [[blue eyes]], and her [[brown hair]] is pulled into a [[ponytail]] in the back, with a [[side ponytail]] going through the funnel. In the front, she has [[sidelocks]] and [[hair between eyes|hair between her eyes]]. On her [[hair ornament]] is an emblazoned "E", which was painted to reflect a [[Battle Effectiveness Award]] received for 'Excellence in Engineering' during exercises in 1938.

Her [[machinery|rigging]] involves a [[flight deck]] modeled on the [[Thompson submachine gun]] (though it should not be tagged as such), with a waist-mounted 'deck' holding twin-[[cannon]] [[turret|turrets]]. She carries drum [[magazine_(weapon)|magazines]] for a Thompson under her dress and additional box magazines on a garter holster, both emblazoned with the pre-1942 US military aircraft roundel.

Saratoga later gains her first [[remodel (kantai collection)|remodel]] (post #2546456), wherein her [[white dress]] becomes [[black dress|black]] with a white underskirt, the flight decks on her gun and rigging change color from orange to gray (and no longer bear the letters "SARA"), and the roundels on the magazines are modified to their 1942-43 form. Her 8-inch gun turrets are replaced with 5-inch dual-purpose guns, and she receives additional anti-aircraft armament. Saratoga is thus the first Allied girl with a remodeled form. This remodel reflects the upgrades the historical Saratoga received during her 1942 repairs.

Saratoga later becomes the first Allied girl to gain a second [[remodel (kantai collection)|remodel]] (post #2852915). Her neckwear becomes black with an anchor attached, the skirt part of her white dress gains stripes, and she now wears black [[fingerless gloves]]. She also has a Mod.2 form where she switches to a full black dress (post #3226144). In both forms, her flight deck now bears the number 3 and the roundels on the magazines are now also modified to the form the US Air Force currently uses since 1944. In the game, she also gains the ability to engage in night battle cut-ins (referencing her last combat stint in Iwo Jima as a dedicated night carrier), with her Mod.2 form converting her into an armored carrier.
However, she requires a prototype catapult for her second remodel on account of the real-life fact that her original catapults were removed in 1936 and did not receive newer ones until 1944.

h4. Personality

'Sister' Sara is portrayed as having an "onee-san" personality, with a relatively elegant manner of speech, and speaking with a [[motherly]] tone regarding her aircraft, and is especially genial towards other ships, with in-game lines referencing friendly relations especially to [[akagi (kancolle)|Akagi]], [[kaga (kancolle)|Kaga]], and [[iowa (kancolle)|Iowa]]. Following in [[warspite (kancolle)|Warspite's]] mold, her in-game lines use significantly better English than Iowa, though she uses it less often.

h4. History

Historically, the USS [i]Saratoga[/i] was one of only two US carriers to survive spending the whole war in the Pacific, alongside the USS [i]Enterprise[/i]. [i]Saratoga[/i] was involved in numerous campaigns, including the "Battle of Wake Island":https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wake_Island, the "Guadalcanal Campaign":https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadalcanal_Campaign, in which she sank light aircraft carrier [[ryuujou (kancolle)|Ryuujou]], the "New Georgia Campaign":https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Georgia_Campaign, the "Bougainville Campaign":https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bougainville_Campaign, the "Gilbert and Marshall Islands Campaign":https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_and_Marshall_Islands_campaign, and the "Battle of Iwo Jima":https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Iwo_Jima.

During this time, [i]Saratoga[/i] received damage numerous times from IJN submarines and kamikaze attacks, forcing long stretches of repair or refit time. This includes one torpedo from the [i][[i-26 (kancolle)|I-26]][/i]. By the end of the war, she had been refit to be a dedicated night carrier, but after another round of damage from kamikaze attacks at Iwo Jima, was relegated to permanent training carrier duty. Ultimately, she was considered too obsolete, and was destroyed as a nuclear test target in [[Operation Crossroads]]. She was awarded 8 "battle stars":https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_star for her service.

h4. Trivia

Her namesake is the "Battle of Saratoga":https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Saratoga of the American Revolutionary War. She was the fifth of six US ships named [i]Saratoga[/i]. Her crew nicknames were [i]Sister Sara[/i] and [i]Sara Maru[/i].

h4. Examples

* post #2545725 (Saratoga)
* post #2546456 (Saratoga Kai / first [[remodel (kantai collection)|remodel]])
* post #2852915 (Saratoga Kai Ni / second [[remodel (kantai collection)|remodel]])
* post #3226144 (Saratoga Kai Ni Mod. 2 / second [[remodel (kantai collection)|remodel]], Mod. 2)

h4. See also

* [[Saratoga (Azur Lane)]]
* [[Saratoga (Warship Girls R)]]

h4. External links

* "Wikipedia: USS Saratoga (CV-3)":[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Saratoga_(CV-3)]
* "Wikipedia: Lexington-class aircraft carrier":[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexington-class_aircraft_carrier]
* "Kancolle Wiki: Saratoga":http://en.kancollewiki.net/Saratoga
Saratoga saratoga サラトガ サラトガ(艦隊これくしょん) サラトガ(艦これ)