USS Ranger (CV-4)
_underway_at_sea_during_the_later_1930s.jpg)
USS Ranger underway at sea, 1930s
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators: |
 United States Navy
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| Preceded by: | Lexington class |
| Succeeded by: | Yorktown class |
| Built: | 1931–34 |
| In commission: | 1934–46 |
| Completed: | 1 |
| Scrapped: | 1 |
| History | |
 United States
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| Name: | USS Ranger |
| Ordered: | 1 November 1930 |
| Builder: | Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. |
| Laid down: | 26 September 1931 |
| Launched: | 25 February 1933 |
| Sponsored by: | Lou Henry Hoover (the wife of the President of the United States) |
| Commissioned: | 4 June 1934 |
| Decommissioned: | 18 October 1946 |
| Struck: | 29 October 1946 |
| Honors and awards: |
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| Fate: | Acquired for scrap for $259K on 31 January 1947 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Aircraft carrier |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | |
| Beam: |
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| Draft: | 22 ft 4.875 in (6.8 m) |
| Installed power: | 53,500 shp (39,900 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 29.3 kn (33.7 mph; 54.3 km/h) |
| Range: | 10,000 nmi (12,000 mi; 19,000 km) at 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h) |
| Complement: |
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| Sensors and processing systems: |
CXAM-1 RADAR |
| Armament: |
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| Armor: | |
| Aircraft carried: |
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| Aviation facilities: |
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USS Ranger (CV-4) was the first ship of the United States Navy to be designed and built from the keel up as an aircraft carrier. Ranger was a relatively small ship, closer in size and displacement to the first US carrier—Langley—than later ships. An island superstructure was not included in the original design, but was added after completion. Deemed too slow for use with the Pacific Fleet's carrier task forces, the ship spent most of the war in the Atlantic Ocean. Ranger saw combat in that theatre and provided air support for Operation Torch. In October 1943, she fought in Operation Leader, air attacks on German shipping off Norway. The ship was sold for scrap in 1947.
Work began in 1925 on the design of a fourth aircraft carrier for the US Navy, as a follow-on to the small Langley, converted from a collier, and the larger Lexington and Saratoga, which were in the process of being converted from incomplete battlecruisers. The Washington Naval Treaty limited both the size of individual ships that could be built and the total tonnage that of aircraft carriers that could be built. After Lexington and Saratoga, there was 69,000 tons remaining for construction of aircraft carriers, and it was decided that the new ship would displace 13,800 tons, a size that would allow five carriers to be built in the remaining available tonnage. What became Ranger was to be the first purpose-built aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. The carrier cost 15.2 million dollars.
Ranger had a narrow hull due to its size and one inch of armor on the hangar deck. Due to space limits, the carrier was equipped with geared turbines. The design was modified to include an island, increasing the ship's displacement to 14,500 tons. The smoke from the ship's six boilers was vented up six small stacks, with three on each side of the aft hangar. The stacks were hinged and were rotated to a position parallel with the hangar deck during flight operations.Ranger also incorporated a gallery deck between the flight deck and hangar deck. The hangar deck was semi-open and had large roll-up metal curtain doors which could be closed in bad weather. The carrier had three elevators. One was located on the centerline and two offset to the starboard centerline. It was originally planned to install two catapults on the hangar deck to allow the launching of observation aircraft but this plan was dropped. The carrier was able to carry 76 aircraft at the time.
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Wikipedia