USS Ranger (CV-4)

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USS Ranger
USS Ranger (CV-4) underway at sea during the later 1930s.jpg
Ship data
flag United StatesUnited States (national flag) United States
Ship type Aircraft carrier
Shipyard Newport News Shipbuilding , Newport News
Launch February 25, 1933
Commissioning June 4, 1934
Whereabouts Sold for scrapping in 1947
Ship dimensions and crew
length
234 m ( Lüa )
220 m ( KWL )
width 33.35 m
Draft Max. 6.83 m
displacement Standard: 14,576  tn. l.
Maximum: 17,577 tons. l.
 
crew 2,461 men
Machine system
machine 6 steam boilers
2 steam turbines
Machine
performance 		53,500 hp (39,349 kW)
Top
speed 		29.3 kn (54 km / h)
propeller 2
Armament
  • 8 × 12.7 cm L / 25 flak
  • 24 × 2.8 cm flak in quad mounts
  • 76-85 aircraft

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 Rangers , 1939
The Rangers in camouflage in July 1944

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

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

Commons : USS Ranger  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files