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Paper Fan, the huge funnels on the Lexington class aircraft carriers (and to a slightly lesser extent on the Yorktown class) are somewhat visually misleading. Since their sole purpose was to direct hot boiler exhaust away from the flight decks, the funnels were formed from much thinner steel sheets than the hull plating. Upper superstructure elements tend to be very lightweight to keep the center of gravity as low as possible for stability. Since these carriers would usually be steaming into the wind during air wing operations, the effect of cross winds acting on such large funnels was minimized. On other occasions when under way with the wind blowing across the deck, that funnel would definitely be an issue.

When the Saratoga was hit by the blast from "Able" (the first Bikini Atoll A-bomb test), the funnel was completely knocked over, as she was anchored with one side fully exposed. That was the most significant damage she suffered. "Baker" was the underwater test, which sent a deadly shock wave while dumping tons of seawater unto the flight deck, causing a partial collapse and swamping the carrier. The caved-in flight deck can easily be seen by divers today.