 Saratoga was surplus to postwar requirements with the large numbers of Essex-class carriers in service, and she was assigned to Operation Crossroads on 22 January 1946. This was a test conducted at Bikini Atoll to evaluate the effect of the atomic bomb on ships. Captain Stanhope Ring assumed command on 6 March, but was relieved on 2 June by Captain Donald MacMahan. The ship hosted comedian Jack Benny's radio show on 21 April, while Saratoga was berthed in San Francisco before her departure for Bikini.
