Aircraft carrier USS Saratoga departs Rhode Island for final journey, heads off to be scrapped

The decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Saratoga has left its port in Rhode Island for its final journey to Texas, where it will be scrapped.

The ship departed Naval Station Newport on Thursday morning and was making its way down Narragansett Bay to the Atlantic Ocean. It is heading to the Esco Marine ship recycling plant in Brownsville, Texas. The Saratoga was supposed to leave Wednesday, but the voyage was postponed because of bad weather.

Esco Marine is being paid a penny by the Navy to dispose of the Saratoga. It plans to make money by selling what it recovers from the ship.

The Saratoga was launched in 1955 and decommissioned in 1994. The vessel fell into disrepair, and an effort to preserve the ship as a museum failed.