page_title: Operation Magic Carpet
section_title: Asia and the Pacific
hierarchical_section_title: Operation Magic Carpet / Asia and the Pacific
caption_attribution_description: The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3) during her last run as a troop transport in operation "Magic Carpet". Original caption: "The USS Saratoga (CV-3) enroute to the States with about 30,000 veterans aboard. This is her last trip as a transport." Note: Of course, the carrier could not accommodate 30,000 people at once. By the end of her "Magic Carpet" service, Saratoga had brought home a total of 29,204 Pacific war veterans, more than any other individual ship.
context_page_description: Operation Magic Carpet was the post-World War II operation by the War Shipping Administration to repatriate over eight million American military personnel from the European, Pacific, and Asian theaters. Hundreds of Liberty ships, Victory ships, and troop transports began repatriating soldiers from Europe in June 1945. Beginning in October 1945, over 370 navy ships were used for repatriation duties in the Pacific. Warships, such as aircraft carriers, battleships, hospital ships, and large numbers of assault transports were used. The European phase of Operation Magic Carpet concluded in February 1946 while the Pacific phase continued until September 1946.
context_section_description: With the surrender of Japan, the navy also began bringing home Sailors and Marines. Vice Admiral Forrest Sherman's Task Force 11 departed Tokyo Bay early in September 1945 with the battleships USS New Mexico, USS Idaho, USS Mississippi, and USS North Carolina, and two carriers plus a squadron of destroyers filled with homeward-bound servicemen. Stopping at Okinawa, they embarked thousands more Tenth United States Army troops.
  The navy hastily converted many of its warships into temporary transports, including aircraft carriers, where three-to five-tiered bunks were installed on the hangar decks to provide accommodation for several thousand men in relative comfort. The navy fleet of 369 ships included 222 assault transports, 6 battleships, 18 cruisers, 57 aircraft carriers and 12 hospital ships.
  By October 1945, Magic Carpet was operating worldwide with the Army, Navy and WSA pooling their resources to expedite the troop-lift. December 1945 became the peak month with almost 700,000 returning home from the Pacific. With the final arrival of 29 troop transports carrying more than 200,000 soldiers and sailors from the China-Burma-India theater in April 1946, Operation Magic Carpet came to its end. The last of the troops to return from the Pacific war zone (127,300) arrived home in September 1946.
caption: A total of 29,204 servicemen returned aboard USS Saratoga, more than on any other individual ship
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