USS Ranger Deserved Better: A Look at Its Illustrious Aircraft Carrier Career

[rangerrebew]

 USS Ranger Deserved Better: A Look at Its Illustrious Aircraft Carrier Career
Story by Brandon J. Weichert • 1h •


© Provided by National Interest
Summary and Key Points: The USS Ranger (CV-61), a Forrestal-class aircraft carrier, had an impressive service history from 1957 to 1993. An evolution from the Essex class, the Forrestal class bridged the gap to nuclear-powered carriers, bringing significant upgrades in size, capability, and power.
 
-Powered by four Westinghouse geared steam turbines and eight Babcock & Wilcox boilers, the Ranger could reach speeds of 33 knots and carried up to 90 aircraft.

-It played key roles in the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm. Despite its honorable service and even a notable presence in films like Top Gun and Star Trek IV, the Ranger was decommissioned in 1993 and scrapped in 2015 after failed attempts to preserve it as a museum.

 SS Ranger (CV-61) Aircraft Carrier Deserved Better
The Forrestal-class aircraft carrier is a sometimes forgotten contribution to the evolution of America’s fleet. Like the Lexington class, the Forrestal was a transition from one point in the development of the Navy’s carriers to the next.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/uss-ranger-deserved-better-a-look-at-its-illustrious-aircraft-carrier-career/ar-BB1q1dBA?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[rangerrebew]

! logged a lot of sea miles aboard her!

[PeteS in CA]

I could easily compile an I wish ______ were a museum ship list, just from WW2 and earlier, but reality is that the $$, space, and visitor interest is not there that can make and maintain all the museums. It's sad, but that's reality, and "If you build it, they will come" mostly only works in movies.

[LadyLiberty]

Recycling an aircraft carrier:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyHMNcBT1-Q

[MeganC]

! logged a lot of sea miles aboard her!

Thank you for your service!

My husband told me of being on the Danger Ranger for a trip from Perth to Pearl Harbor. His main complaint was the lack of accessibility to any place with fresh air.

On the other side he loved his trip aboard the USS Toledo saying it was the absolute best food he'd ever had, including some very nice restaurants.

[PeteS in CA]

The Forrestal class was in the middle of the progressive increases in US carrier displacements:

USS Ranger, CV-4, ~15,000 tons (first purpose-designed US carrier)

Yorktown class, ~20,000 tons

Essex class, ~31,000 tons

Midway class, ~45,000 tons

Forrestal and Kittyhawk classes, ~60,000 and 61,000 tons (Kittyhawk class includes USS John F. Kennedy)

USS Enterprise, ~93,000 tons (first nuclear-powered carrier)

Nimitz and Gerald R. Ford classes, 100,000-105,000 tons

USN jet aircraft started on the Essex and Midway class carriers. The Forrestals are sometimes called the first "super carrier", but in the fuller context, 1934 to the present they are part of an evolutionary continuum. The Forrestals were the earliest carrier class large enough to carry F-14 Tomcats (the Midways could carry F-4 Phantom IIs and F/A-18 Hornets, but not Tomcats).