USS Ranger (CV-4)

USS Ranger underway at sea, 1930s
Class overview
Operators	United States Navy
Preceded by	Lexington class
Succeeded by	Yorktown class
Built	1931–1934
In commission	1934–1946
Completed	1
Scrapped	1
History
United States
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
Stricken	29 October 1946
Honors and awards	American Defense Service Medal ("A" device) American Campaign Medal European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (2 stars) Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal World War II Victory Medal
Fate	Acquired for scrap for $259K on 31 January 1947
Badge
General characteristics
Type	Aircraft carrier
Displacement	As built: 14,576 long tons (14,810 t) (standard) 17,577 long tons (17,859 t) (full load)
Length	730 ft (222.5 m) (w/l) 769 ft (234.4 m) (o/a) 709 ft (216.1 m) (fd)
Beam	80 ft (24.4 m) (waterline) 109 ft 5 in (33.4 m) (overall)
Draft	22 ft 4.875 in (6.8 m)
Installed power	6 × boilers 53,500 shp (39,900 kW)
Propulsion	2 × steam turbines 2 × shafts
Speed	29.3 knots (54.3 km/h; 33.7 mph)
Range	10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	216 officers and 2,245 enlisted men including embarked air group (as built) 2,148 (1941)
Sensors and processing systems	CXAM-1 radar
Armament	8 × 5 in (127 mm)/25 cal anti-aircraft guns 40 × .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns
Armor	Belt 2 in (5.1 cm) Bulkheads: 2 in (5.1 cm) Deck: 1 in (2.5 cm) (over steering gear)
Aircraft carried	86 (maximum) 76 (normal)
Aviation facilities	3 × elevators 3 × catapults

USS Ranger (CV-4) was an interwar United States Navy aircraft carrier, the only ship of its class. As a Treaty ship, Ranger was the first U.S. vessel to be designed and built from the keel up as a carrier. She was relatively small, just 730 ft (222.5 m) long and under 15,000 long tons (15,000 t), 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 against Japan,^[1] she spent most of World War II in the Atlantic Ocean, where the German fleet, the Kriegsmarine, was a weaker opponent. Ranger saw combat in that theater and provided air support for Operation Torch. In October 1943, she fought in Operation Leader, air attacks on German shipping off Norway. She was sold for scrap in 1947.