Ranger

[@larrybooker4534]

My dad served on this carrier at 17 yrs old sailing from NYC harbor to Casablanca, in N. Africa I have an original 2 page account he typed about his duty on board. A real treasure for anyone to read from a young man living during the war.

[@larryspiller6633]

Bless your Father for serving on this Ship and in particular for being one of The greatest Generation. My Great Uncle also served on this ship. If there is a pleasure to be had in death, we buried him, on November 11th, 2015, Veterans Day. Knowing that he always regarded his time on board, and in the US Navy in WW2 as a highlight of his life despite the hardships of war. What a Man he was.

[@BillyBBecker]

My dad was on the ll Lexington, He was in the engine room. He was only 16 when he went in. From a little town in Nebraska, he had a life time of story.

[@georgepantazis141]

@@larryspiller6633 What a MAN Thanks for his service at such a important time.

[@realhuman4396]

Sounds interesting, maybe if you’re fine with it you can share it online.

[@MakeMeThinkAgain]

Considering how quickly naval aircraft were developing (and getting heavier) between the wars, the USN did quite well with its carrier decisions. No flying off decks, for example. While not a first rate ship, the USN got important service out of Ranger and learned a lot at the same time. I imagine the Independence class benefited from lessons learned from Ranger.

[@model-man7802]

Everyone learned from Ranger.

[@terrelmchenry9524]

plants got much better once they went to a twin walled supercharged boiler.

[@gequitz]

Except Wasp

[@chriscase1392]

Interesting fact about the landing-over-the-bow capability. I'm not sure about the Yorktown class, but the Essexes were designed with the same feature, that is, arresting gear at the forward end of the flight deck. Part way through the construction, it was decided that landing over the bow while backing into the wind was such an improbable event that the remaining Essexes were built without it, and those ships that had it already in place had it removed. I don't believe that any carrier ever actually conducted flight ops while backing down. In the same vein, the Essexes were designed, and some of them built, with a catapult on the hangar deck. Another good idea that was so rarely used that it disappeared quickly when the class became part of the fleet.

[@andrewtaylor940]

I believe the two Lexington’s, Yorktown and possibly Enterprise were originally built with bow arresting gear. But it was stripped off early on. In one of the first refits for each ship. I didn’t think any of the Essex’s had it when commissioned. I think they gave up on it by the time Hornet was launched.

[@Mike-im5bo]

I want to say that on December 7, 1941 when the Lexington was attempting to deliver Marine SB2Us to Midway there was an occasion when she had to back down and land aircraft on her front deck. Yes, it was a very rare operation!

[@patrickmcleod111]

**It's so cool how it's got open headers, with the pipes turned upwards on either side of the deck, like with dragsters! I'm only counting 3 pipes on each side, so I'm guessing it's a big V-6, like maybe a 3.6L turbocharged V-6 from a 1987 Buick Grand National! This ship may be heavier than a mid 80s Buick, but all you need is a bigger turbo, and voila! 12 second 1/4 mile time slips, and maybe a trophy or 2 in the super-stock class!! It's probably great for bracket racing. **

[@Straswa]

Awesome vid! The Ranger is my favorite warship of WWII for her unique design and her history despite her limited service.

[@jamesbugbee6812]

She had a beautiful hull 💜.

[@patrickmcleod111]

Great video. You mention many important details that don't seem to exist in many tv documentaries, along with basic explanations of those details in a way that makes it easier for the average, non ship building expert to grasp.

[@navyreviewer]

Yeah. In retrospect we should have learned our lesson from Langley and skipped Ranger, Wasp, and scrapped Langley infavor of 3 "Essex" class as CVs-4, 5, and 6. Well you know what they say about hindsight.

[@huskythedinosaur1592]

navyreviewer How dare you get rid of the Yorktowns!

[@hellhound47bravo3]

Interesting thought, but in some ways pointless. While Wasp may have been a mistake, Ranger was an experiment, certainly better than Langley, but not good enough. It was just too compromised. But, live and learn.

[@raymondkisner9240]

The navy had limited building funds and had to figure out how to maximize the number of ships with the limited budgets they had prewar.

[@andrewnoonan4044]

In some cases it was more about limited treaty tonnage than budget. That was certainly the case with Wasp.

[@patrickradcliffe3837]

Wasp was a compromised design. Of getting a yorktown air group onto 14k ton hull and still keep up with the yorktowns with their 19k displacement.

[@BobSmith-dk8nw]

Everyone was learning at the beginning so the Ranger was something to learn with. Ranger and Wasp taught us - not to build Carriers like that. .

[@kelvinmok10]

she reli was a revolutionary ship. too bad she was just too damn small

[@joshuariddensdale2126]

My late grandfather was part of Ranger's Marine detachment. I've begun building Trumpeter's 1/350 scale model of her. Although, the model has Ranger depicted in her '44 "dazzle" paint scheme. I'll just end up painting her pre-war straight gray or mid-war Sea Blue and Haze Gray.

[@coleparker]

Interesting about the argument of small vs large. It is a topic being discussed at the present time.

[@DavidGarcia-wc8js]

The ranger was my home from 1979 Until 1987 I was in the engineering division P four division Auxiliary engineering Room number 2 MM-5 Machines Mate

[@thomasmackwilliams2038]

Thomas Mack Wilhoite, Ensign, USNR, Wildcat pilot, VF-9, flew two sorties from Ranger on 08 Nov 42. Shot down strafing the Vichy French airfield, Port Lyautey, Morocco. Posthumous Silver Star. USS Wilhoite, DE397, the "Will Do", named in his honor. Ship served valiantly in WWII, Korea era, and Vietnam. American school in Morocco named in his honor. Proud and valiant American from Guthrie, KY.

[@stevenmoore4612]

She’s definitely a special ship being that she was the first aircraft carrier to be built from the keel up as an aircraft carrier. She‘s really similar to carriers like ark Royal and Hiryu class in terms of her size and displacement. I remember reading somewhere that in 1942 or 43 she was “allegedly” attacked by a u boat in which the boats commander von Bülow claimed to have sunk the Ranger. This was of course false information and Hitler even awarded the u boat commander with oak leaves for his iron cross. Thankfully she wasn’t hit by torpedos from a u boat since she had pretty bad torpedo protection that even with one torpedo hit could’ve doomed her. In the end she got lucky and survived the war.

[@captrodgers4273]

ranger was a fine ship. if she wasnt so slow she would have fought in the pacific

[@chandlerwhite8302]

She had very light armor and if you listen to the video, her own officers warned about how lightly the ship was built. She would have been a death trap against Japanese aerial torpedoes in the early years of he Pacific war. By the time the Japanese carrier force was neutralized and took away that threat, Nimitz had 10 Essex class carriers plus Enterprise and Saratoga available to him. That gave him enormous striking power, so there was no need to send a vulnerable ship to the war zone at that point.

[@shenghan9385]

In other words, what a fine slow piece.

[@garyinmaine1278]

My dad was on the Langly, Ranger, and Boxer,in ww2

[@garyinmaine1278]

Not at the sane tome though

[@firstperson7602GMAIL]

Very informative, thank you for this.

[@studentjohn35]

Ranger was really the older cousin of the Independence class.

[@checkyoursix5623]

When I read the title, I thought they might be talking about CVA-61 (AKA "building 61") ...

[@jmckeith2342]

My dad served on this ship as a 20mm gunner. Wow this is just.. wow. Did a Wiki search too. Interesting info.

[@railroad9000]

Any thoughts about episodes of smaller Navy ships? Destroyer Escorts or minesweepers?

[@dalecarney6582]

my older brother served on the USS Range back in the early 60's

[@JGunit]

My grandfather did too. Great history

[@karentodd6938]

HMS HERMES was the first aircraft carrier to be built and the second to be commissioned. Japan built the second carrier and it was the first to be commissioned

[@JGunit]

My grandfather served on that ship.

[@justinhuffman4680]

Mine as well

[@justinhuffman4680]

He is 94 and still with us

[@johntalik7521]

I don't no why they never mention the U.S.S. Wasp CV-7 my dad was on it got sunk like the others. It was hit by Torpedoes he was an aircraft mechanic and seen the torpedoes coming so he got ready to abandon ship.

[@navyreviewer]

They? Whose they that doesn't mention Wasp? I'm not trying to be sarcastic, I'm just interested in where she isn't mentioned. Doesn't sound like a good source.

[@user-ey8df9ss2i]

Compro 5 navios dessa classe para a marinha do Brasil Rio de Janeiro niteroi Brasil

[@user-ey8df9ss2i]

Compro 80 navios dessa classe para a marinha do Brasil Rio de Janeiro niteroi Brasil

[@Yanyeidi]

Like listening to a bad Disney wildlife narration...

[@navyreviewer]

Some of us love wildlife narrations. There was this hilarious one were two lion Cubs were stalking gazelles and as they were about to pounce one just let out a giant meow. The gazelles scattered. The other just looked at him like WTF? Funniest thing I've ever seen. Anyway, I guess my point is no one is making you watch it. Bye.

[@captainclone1367]

The mentioning of kamikaze's was immaterial and had nothing to do with the placement of AAA around the Rangers flight deck. I assume that decision was a prewar decision, say 1935? If so then at that time kamikaze's did not exist.

[@adventuressurvivalinthailand]

I thought the point being made was that it was lucky or furtuitious that dive bombers were thought of as a threat, because kamikazes were like dive bombers

[@lylecampbell9036]

So what do you care?

[@shawnbeckmann1847]

Makes you wonder why She could not sail with the escort carrier's She was still faster then all of them, the Fleet totally Misused the Ranger

[@chandlerwhite8302]

Shawn Beckmann1 Her hull was only an inch thick in spots. A torpedo strike of any type would have opened it up like a tin can and made her an absolute death trap. The crew was darn lucky to make it back from North Africa without running into a U-boat. Using her for training in safe waters was the best thing they could have possibly done.

[@padurarulcriticsicinic4846]

@@chandlerwhite8302 She was attacked by one, it missed.

[@SladesShitboxGarage]

*Oversized CVE*

[@POLMAZURKA]

more pictures....

[@user-ey8df9ss2i]

Compro 20 navios dessa classe para a marinha do Brasil Rio de Janeiro niteroi Brasil