USS Ranger (CV-4)
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The USS Ranger (CV-4) was the first US aircraft carrier planned as such and built by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company shipyard in Virginia . The six foldable chimneys were remarkable.
history
The ship was on the September 26, 1931 Kiel set and on 4 June 1934, the command of Captain Arthur L. Bristol for the US Navy put into service. After her maiden voyage to South America , she was transferred to the Pacific . Since the rangers proved to be too slow for missions in the wide area of the Pacific, they drove patrols in the Atlantic from 1939 and supported convoys . In 1941 and 1942 it was also used repeatedly as a guard for special WS convoy trains.
From November 8 to 11, 1942, the Ranger and its squadron played a key role in the conquest of Casablanca in Morocco .
From October 2 to 6, 1943, the Ranger took part in Operation Leader. On the morning of October 4, 1943, the ship reached the Vestfjord . In two attacks, the planes sank four ships. Three other ships were damaged. The La Plata had for a bombing at Bodo are placed on the beach. Three aircraft were shot down by air defense during the attacks. The Grumman Wildcat fighter aircraft stationed on board shot down a Junkers Ju 88 and a Heinkel He 115 . A Wildcat went overboard on landing. The pilot could be saved.
From mid-1944, the rangers drove small training missions during the Pacific War . In late 1945 she was operating near the south and east coasts of the United States.
The ship was decommissioned on October 18, 1946 and sold to Sun Shipbuilding in Chester , Pennsylvania for scrapping on January 28, 1947 .
See also
- USS Ranger , for other ships of the same name
- List of US Navy aircraft carriers
- List of US Navy aircraft carrier classes
- List of historical aircraft carriers
literature
- Robert J. Cressman: USS Ranger. The Navy's First Flattop from Keel to Mast, 1934-46. Potomoc Books, Dulles VA 2003, ISBN 1-57488-720-3 .
- Barrett Tillman: Wildcat Aces of World War 2 (= Osprey Aircraft of the Aces. Vol. 3). Osprey Aerospace, Oxford 1995, ISBN 1-85532-486-5 .
Web links
- NAVY page about the USS Ranger (English)
- Detailed history of the USS Ranger (English)
- USS Ranger (English)